Theos-Talk Archives (May 1996 Message tl01273)

>e> Science is *also* a belief system, not too different from religion.
>Indeed :(

Alexis comments: From the days when Aristotle first formulated the concept
of scientific investigation, to the time of Francis Bacon, who perfected the
concept, to our own times when all scientists insist on rigorous
investigation, peer review, and constant efforts to add yet more proof.
Anyone actually connected with science knows that scientists today, try
extremely diligently to be anything BUT a "belief system".

Martin comments: ideally it would be so, but alas, it's not exactly like
you describe. I can give you several examples of this. One for now (on the
field of astronomy):
Halton Arp, Tift (sp?) & collegue were denied observation time at the big
telescopes.
They were so to speak 'outlaws' in astronomy. Careers have been broken.
It may have changed a little bit now, but still your description applies
to those who prefer to stay in the *mainstream* belief-systems (Ok, I'll call
it paradigmas) of the diverse sciences. Paul Feyerabend has some good things
to say on science (Against Method, 1975).

In the long run science will always destroy its own worn-out hypotheses and
theories, replacing them with new ones, but in the meanwhile scientists can
behave
pretty like believers in a church, excluding those who wander too far from the
dominant hypotheses.


There are also flaws in the scientific method, having to do with the exclusion
of the higher senses of man. But that's another story..

Martin