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Originally Posted by Buddy
Another thought that just struck me is that religion is based on faith. At least most are. You don't need to have faith in science, you can test it yourself.
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Sure, religion is built on faith because it contains, as a basic, defining premise, that TRUTH will be sought not with empirical, replicable experimentation, but via a consultation with (whether the Self of Buddhism, the Oracle at Delphi, the Natural God of Thoreau and Emerson, or the preachings of Billy Graham) the PERFECT ABSTRACT. I define "Perfect Abstract" as either the conjury of the individual imgination or the collectively-sustained conjury of (religious) ideology and dogma. Basically, I mean, if it CAN'T be proved or disproved by science -- however many people believe it so -- we are operating in the realm of FAITH.
String ("M") Theory qualifies, under this test, as a faith-based belief system.
And, because it IS trying to explain such big questions as HOW?, WHEN?, and WHAT NEXT?, it begins to sound a lot like religion.
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Originally Posted by Buddy
... I don't think that science and religion are on the verge of meeting, no matter how cool and magical the things hinted at by the m theory seem.
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To see the convergence of science and religion that I'm suggesting exists in String Theory, you have to accept that ANY effort of enquiry which abandons the 5 senses in favor OTHER intuitive powers -- IS metaphysics, and that metaphysical enquiries directed at the questions of how the universe was created and how it operates -- ARE religious in nature.
j-