Francis Collins, Director of the Human Genome Project (and, unusually for a prominent scientist, a Christian), writes “Science is powerless to answer questions such as ‘what happens after we die’.” Well, yes, but the righteous don’t know either; they just pretend to know, based on what is written in their holy books. Unlike the righteous, scientists don’t usually pretend to know things they can’t possibly know. I’m learning that a simple acknowledgement - “I don’t know” - can be a perfectly valid, even scientific, response to a lot of “why?” questions. In the words of Carl Sagan, “It’s okay to reserve judgement until the evidence is in”.
A scientist who pretends to know things he doesn’t know will face innumerable problems, not least the peer review of his research papers and his eventual unmasking as a fraud. On the other hand, a man of faith who pretends to know things he doesn’t know will be rewarded with paradise...
No comments:
Post a Comment