20100802

Contradiction

The question was asked:

I often notice that a lot of religious people use doublethink but have no realization of it?

Religion and science are based on opposing fundamental assumptions, neither of which is completely provable or falsifiable (Borchardt, 2004). The only way to hold opposing assumptions is to compartmentalize. Big Bang Theorists, for example, believe in the First Law of Thermodynamics, CONSERVATION (Matter and the motion of matter neither can be created nor destroyed). They also believe in creation (that something could be formed out of nothing, or a tiny "singularity"). They compartmentalize this by saying that the laws of physics were created at the same time as the Big Bang—problem solved, if you don’t think about it too much. This “rationalization” is similar to what religious folks do when confronted by inconvenient data from the real world. They are well trained in accepting such contradictions and the resulting confusion. Unlike strict logicians, they are not much concerned about it most of the time. It takes a crisis, generally developing as a gross contradiction between their imaginary world and the external world, to push them in either direction. For some, your question just might be the trigger.

Borchardt, Glenn, 2004, The ten assumptions of science: Toward a new scientific worldview: Lincoln, NE, iUniverse, 125 p.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would like to exchange links with your site thescientificworldview.blogspot.com
Is this possible?

Glenn Borchardt said...

Maybe. What is it?