this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2023
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[–] [email protected] 57 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I definitely think there's a strain of dogmatism in science. We need to be careful. Science is not the Truth, it's a method for producing accurate predictions. We accumulate evidence until the predictions seem overwhelmingly likely, or not. At no point have we proven that things might not be completely different from what we imagine them to be, or that they won't change. Science isn't Truth, it's just a method of finding the best answer up to that point.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

And religion is not only a truth, it's not a method of finding the truth either.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

You've eloquently stated my position.

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[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 year ago (13 children)

Science and religion are two entirely separate things. Treating religion like science is bad, but treating science like religion is worse.

You cannot "believe in" science; it is not intended to tell you how to live a moral life or provide meaning to your existence, etc. If you try and make it do that, you are not being scientific, you're being dogmatic.

These concepts aren't related to each other, and shouldn't be compared.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Science is descriptive where religion is prescriptive. Granted there are some origin storys in religion (Eve's sin or Noah's rainbow) but we've had people dismissing their own fables back in the classical age, instead trying to hypothesize how things are really.

This is how Adonai can be a total git and yet declared as just and righteous and benevolent by fiat, what raises challenges to the properties of justice, righteousness or benevolence. Apologists usually retreat to semantics.

Science has its own approach to morality, which is to frame it as a consequentialist formula. Exempli gratia, looking at the histories of civilization, we can see that whenever the bourgoisie neglects the needs of the proletariat, civil unrest, genocide and war follow. Therefore, we might infer that a) the bourgeoisie might be able to defer civic collapse by establishing and enforcing unconditional civil rights and accommodations for its population, and b) that no society has ever been able to do this in perpetuity. The thousand year reich is still a fiction.

The religious equivalent is scriptural passages to kings ( govern wisely ) and to bonded servants, ( obey ), without any elaboration on the mechanics or consequences.

Consensus among religious scholars is that scripture (whether Christian, Muslim, Hellenic, Nubian or whatever) are just early attempts at moral philosophy distilled down to divine command theory, which is very basic deontological ethics (creed-based ethics). With centuries (and centuries) of further thought on the matter, our religious ministries have focused more on profiteering than on keeping up with the times.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Science is descriptive where religion is prescriptive.

This is true, but also it's prescriptive about different things... religion is focused on morality, which isn't the kind of thing science is useful for; morality is a philosophical and religious thing.

This is how Adonai can be a total git and yet declared as just and righteous and benevolent by fiat, what raises challenges to the properties of justice, righteousness or benevolence. Apologists usually retreat to semantics.

Or "the lord moves in mysterious ways," type hand waving.

Science has its own approach to morality, which is to frame it as a consequentialist formula

I wouldn't call that science, that's philosophy

Science has its own approach to morality, which is to frame it as a consequentialist formula. Exempli gratia, looking at the histories of civilization, we can see that whenever the bourgoisie neglects the needs of the proletariat, civil unrest, genocide and war follow. Therefore, we might infer that a) the bourgeoisie might be able to defer civic collapse by establishing and enforcing unconditional civil rights and accommodations for its population, and b) that no society has ever been able to do this in perpetuity. The thousand year reich is still a fiction.

This is ... a political science theory relying on haphazard historiography, maybe?

I do not know anyone claiming to have a "science of morality" that I would consider to be scientific, or moral...

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (3 children)

We shouldn't think of science as a better replacement for religion. It's a different thing entirely; if we start worshipping rationalism, we've just made ourselves the gods of a new religion.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

What if I told you that many people don't believe in any gods at all? Worship is a choice and not a necessity.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I think their point was that we inherently start worshipping ourselves once we begin to think that we are the source of empirical truth and rationality that our gods used to be.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Rationalism can lead to a cult mentality. It's happened before. Of course, you could say that this isn't "true rationalism", but you have to ask yourself if you're actually practicing rational thinking or just fetishizing the trappings of rationalism. I think that this means that skepticism is just as important as rationalism.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago

Unfortunately, so many. Like vaccines.

[–] lasagna 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Science itself during the dark ages.

Romans were doing very well before my buddy JC came along.

Maybe our sins should have stayed unforgiven, you know?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

Just name one thing? Reason! Ha, checkmate atheists!

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

I mean, religion by definition is basically just guessing what's true, or guessing that what somebody else told you is true is true. Not exactly a foolproof method.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I googled the website on one of the signs, bounced on 2 or 3 links and found this gem :

https://www.thetrumpet.com/literature/1176-does-god-exist/print

Checkmate atheists!

(/s, in case anyone needs this)

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That hurt to read, I feel I'm dumber now

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

Image Transcription:

A 4-panel Angry NPC Wojak meme. The first panel shows grey NPC wojak saying "Religion and science are both ways of finding the truth" In the second panel the white character replies "Can you name me one thing that was found by science and was later replaced by religion" The third panel is grey NPC wojak with no text, and the final panel is the titular angry NPC wojak with his brows furrowed.

[I am a human, if I’ve made a mistake please let me know. Please consider providing alt-text for ease of use. Thank you. 💜]

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