Science is not a Religion

I recently got so riled up after reading an article in my Student Newspaper that implied that I wrote them a letter.  Their article implied that Science was a belief based and had some similarity with Religion.  This is entirely incorrect.

They didn’t publish my letter, nor any other letters disagreeing with their paper.  They published a whole weeks paper entitled “The God Issue”, but only had one anti-religious article.  Such a biased rag, I will never read it again. The letter is below:

Science is not a religion, nor is it in any way faith based.

The scientific method makes one assumption: the Universe obeys a set of rules. If the Universe follows these rules, ten those rules can be determined from observing the way Universe behaves. If the Universe obeys the rules, then the rules must be revealed by that behaviour.

Science is not a database of knowledge – it’s a method of finding knowledge: observe, hypothesise, predict, experiment/observe, revise. Science is also provisional as it is always open to improvement and is constantly being revised.

You do not have any respectable physicists unquestioningly believing in Newtonian Dynamics.  Why? Because it has been superseded by Relativity.  This is because Relativity is a more accurate model of observed effects, and has been repeatedly confirmed through observation. Even Relativity cannot explain everything, so physicists will continue questioning it – but they will be using the scientific method, described above, to do so.

Battlestar and Bob Dylan

I was recently re-watching the season three finale in preparation for the première of season four of Battlestar Galactica. If you don’t already watch it – you should!

I was thinking about the final scene and the connections between the lyrics and the past events of BSG, with a possible reference to the future:

“There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief” is fairly obviously connected to the final four learning that they are Cylons. Imagine how you would feel if you woke up one day and realised you were a machine?

“Two riders were approaching,” fairly obviously referring to the two Vipers flown by Starbuck and Apollo.

“There are many here among us,” a reference to cylons within the fleet.

“No reason to get excited,” say the lyrics; “It’s really me,” says Starbuck – Uncanny.

Therefore the Theif in the song would be Starbuck leaving the Joker as Apollo.

“The wind began to howl” – The Cylons showing up.

“Feel that life is but a joke,” – which is Starbuck’s general attitude throughout the whole show.

“You and I we’ve been through that” – Alluding to their past (and current?) romantic relationship.

“And this is not our fate” – Apparently shutting the door.

Before apparently opening it again with: “Lets not talk falsely now – the hour is getting late,” meaning lets hook up before it’s over and/or we die.

Bob Dylan – All Along the Watchtower:

“There must be some way out of here,” said the joker to the thief,
“There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth.”

“No reason to get excited,” the thief, he kindly spoke,
“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.”

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.

Al Gore’s New Climate Change Presentation

If you’re a climate change sceptic, check out Al Gore’s new presentation (link below). If after watching it, you’re still unconvinced, do some reading about the subject until you realise that Al Gore is in fact correct.

TED Talks, New Thinking on the Climate Crisis, Al Gore