just a thought, do we give science too much credit?
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2009 9:41 pm
I understand that science can answer "how" things are created but not "why" This leads me to belive that in a sense, science is puting together the pieces but gets credit for deciding the purpose too soon .Science is great at taking things apart and figuring out how they fit back together but that is often as worthy as it gets. Let me illustrate my point.
Suppose there were a convention in the days before electricity and many scientists showed up. There, in the corner, is a lightbulb, but no inventor around and because electicity hasn't been yet shown to the world, no one knows the purpose. The scientists gather around and begin doing their magic. Well, they say, this is how it works, the wires connect to the metal and the glass keeps it all together. A person in the audience says "Yeah, but what's it for?" and the scientists say, we aren't here to discuss philosophical questions, but we can tell you exactly how it is made up. And we can tell you where the materials came from. They then begin to hypothesise what the bulb could be used for. When the inventor doesn't show up, the scientists conclude that the bulb is an invention perhaps to use as a paper weight. Since no inventor is to be found, the audience, and then the society ,accept that as its purpose because that is as far as discovery can go since electricity hasn't been invented and no inventor is to be found.
If the inventor isn't there, then scientists can only provide theories as to how the creation is made and guess on its purpose. This is fine except that science seems to claim the copyright to their theories even though clearly they aren't the creator or who put together these massive systems. God has made himself known, but to those who don't see him as the creator- questions as to why the world works, and its purposes, can only be hypotheses. Maybe, since science isn't the creator, they miss the purpose all together? Who's to say? Suppose in the hypothetical situation above, the invention's purpose was to give light all along and the inventor never did get the credit.
Suppose there were a convention in the days before electricity and many scientists showed up. There, in the corner, is a lightbulb, but no inventor around and because electicity hasn't been yet shown to the world, no one knows the purpose. The scientists gather around and begin doing their magic. Well, they say, this is how it works, the wires connect to the metal and the glass keeps it all together. A person in the audience says "Yeah, but what's it for?" and the scientists say, we aren't here to discuss philosophical questions, but we can tell you exactly how it is made up. And we can tell you where the materials came from. They then begin to hypothesise what the bulb could be used for. When the inventor doesn't show up, the scientists conclude that the bulb is an invention perhaps to use as a paper weight. Since no inventor is to be found, the audience, and then the society ,accept that as its purpose because that is as far as discovery can go since electricity hasn't been invented and no inventor is to be found.
If the inventor isn't there, then scientists can only provide theories as to how the creation is made and guess on its purpose. This is fine except that science seems to claim the copyright to their theories even though clearly they aren't the creator or who put together these massive systems. God has made himself known, but to those who don't see him as the creator- questions as to why the world works, and its purposes, can only be hypotheses. Maybe, since science isn't the creator, they miss the purpose all together? Who's to say? Suppose in the hypothetical situation above, the invention's purpose was to give light all along and the inventor never did get the credit.