Greetings, Cliff Goldstein here
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and I want to welcome you
to "Contending for the Faith."
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This is part of a series
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I'm doing on the
questions of faith in science.
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And that's
because we live in a world
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were these two forces,
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faith and science are
really very prevalent.
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In fact even if
we don't have faith,
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well actually we all have faith.
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Even if you don't have
faith in what is deemed,
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traditional
religious faith, you know,
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you still have faith
in whatever you believe,
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and that's because of
the nature of knowledge
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or should I say belief itself.
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See look, we are beings
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who are greatly limited in our--
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limited in our
understanding of whatever
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we believe or know
or think that we know.
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There are some very
powerful and as far as I know
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impenetrable
barriers on our knowledge,
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on our beliefs about
anything and everything.
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You know, you
could believe something,
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believe in it strongly.
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In fact you could
say you are certain of it
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and indeed you could have
some very very good reasons,
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some valid reasons
for believing it's true.
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And it very well might be.
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But the fact is
there's always going to be
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some
contingency to your beliefs.
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There is always going
to be a bit of a gray area.
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A place where doubt can come in,
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where some
questions can come in,
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which means that no matter
how sure you are of some thing,
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someone else
could point out reasons
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why you might be wrong.
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This is just a basic
fact of our knowledge,
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which is why I
say that every one,
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even atheist
too-- especially atheist
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I think have to have faith.
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And I mean, to
make the statement
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that no God exist is as
much of a faith statement
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as the statement
that God does exists.
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Now the atheist might
have what he or she believes
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there are some very
good reasons for their faith?
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Okay, I mean there are
some pretty smart atheists
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who can give some pretty
good arguments for their belief.
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It's the same with
those who believe in God,
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they can give some
pretty good arguments
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for their beliefs as well.
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But in the end
whether you believe in God
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or don't believe in God,
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there is still
some degree of belief,
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your belief is still to
some degree a faith statement.
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And you know,
that's no really big deal,
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because I'm trying to prep say
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pretty much that all we believe.
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Everything we believe,
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we have to take to
some degree on faith.
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Hence faith is a
big part of our life
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and so is science.
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And in fact there's a lot more
faith in the process of science
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than most people realize.
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Hence the title of this
series faith in science.
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It just doesn't mean
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someone outside of
science having faith in it.
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It also means those
in the field of science
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needing to work
by faith as well.
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Anyway in this
series, I look at science
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and some of the
issues in science
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and seek to
explore what science does,
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what it cannot do,
what it claims to do,
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and what it claims to teach us
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and to reveal to
us about the world.
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And I also want
to look at how should
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we as religious people
respond to those claims,
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some of those claims of
what science makes for itself.
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Now, I emphasize
the word religious,
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because that's an adjective
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to let us know the kind of faith
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I'm talking about
here specifically.
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Because believe me,
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there are lot of different
kinds of faith out there.
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You know, contrariety
what some would have us belief.
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I can still
remember Richard Dawkins book
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"The God Delusion."
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And I can remember him writing
that science is based on facts
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and reason and
evidence and proof,
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while religion is
based he said, just on faith.
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Well, of course, if anyone
is confronted with the choice
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presented in terms like that,
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which one are they
gonna choose, okay.
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But the fact is that
Dawkins characterization
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is really a caricature
of what the real issues are?
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And we'll deal with this
for more in the future for sure.
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Anyway for now,
there is this belief,
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there is this
belief now that science
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is kind of this
higher form of knowledge,
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someone once described that
is the sequel mode of knowledge,
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and that it pretty much trumps
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any other kind
of belief you have.
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Okay, in other
words if you believe in X,
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doesn't really matter what X is.
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Okay, or how are you
came to believe in X.
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You believe in X and you think
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you have good
reasons for believing in X.
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And you really might
have good reasons for it.
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However, someone
comes along with the latest
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and greatest data based
on laboratory experiment
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and other things done according
to what has been called
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the scientific method
and the scientific model
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and that person says
to you that X is false,
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and we have proved
it false in science,
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then you have no choice, do you?
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Any rational
person must renounce
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his or her belief in X.
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After all we have science,
scientific evidence showing
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that your belief in X is wrong.
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In many ways,
there is a strong current
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for this type of
thinking in our society today.
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And you know, it's
really to a certain degree
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it's understandable,
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and in some cases it
might even be just viable.
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Your belief in X
might really been misguided.
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And science comes
along to show you that it is.
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That's fine, but I want
to look at the question.
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Why should we
believe what science tells us
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or do we have good
reasons at times to question it?
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Even on things that science
often declares as certain.
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I want to listen
to-- I want you to listen
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to this quote from someone
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who has been a very well known
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and very influential
thinker in the previous century,
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his name is
Alfred North Whitehead.
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Listen to this quote
"Fifty-seven years ago it was
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when I was a young man in
the University of Cambridge.
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I was taught
science and mathematics
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by brilliant men
and I did well in them,
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since the turn of the century
I have lived to see every one
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of the basic
assumptions of both set aside.
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And yet, in the face of that,
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the discoverers
of the new hypotheses
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in science are declaring.
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'Now at least,
we have certitude.'
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" Wow, that to me
is very very heavy,
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something to really give
you something to think about
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especially as we
confront the idea,
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that if we have a
belief, but science comes along
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and teach us
something contrary to it,
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then we have to by fault
just give up that belief.
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And I want to look
at one particular thing
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regarding the nature of science,
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and what it says to us
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and whether we
should accept it or not.
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Have you ever
heard the argument,
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well, science works?
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I mean how can we
question what science is doing?
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How can we question
that science is doing
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anything other
than giving us truth,
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giving us truth
about what's out there
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when it works so well.
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If we want to go to the moon.
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Okay, and we got to the moon
and the science, and science,
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and scientists
got us to the moon
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then how can the
science be wrong?
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Fill in the blanks.
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I wanted to
build the smart phone,
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okay and so we ask science
to build us a smart phone,
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and we got a smart phone.
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How could it be wrong?
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We wanted to build a nuke
and we ask science to help us
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to build the
nuke and lo and behold
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when they drop the
little boy over Hiroshima,
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coincidence of
coincidence it just happened
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it could explode
just as science told us.
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Thus the question is,
how could science be wrong?
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Thus, if we believe
X and science tells us
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belief in X is wrong.
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How dare we challenge it?
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When Christian theologian
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and of all people
Christian theologians
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you think won't be so gullible.
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But He once said,
"Christians who fly
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through the heavens in planes
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and speed along
the earth in cars,
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who watch television
and use electric razors,
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cannot fairly repudiate
the conclusions of science.
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Really now,
because science allows us
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to fly planes and
use electric razors,
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that because it
bears practical fruit.
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Now it's the
ultimate arbiter of truth.
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Well, at one level
that sounds all right,
00:10:00.84\00:10:03.96
but I want you to look at it,
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we're gonna look at
this a little more closely.
00:10:05.31\00:10:09.50
Have you ever seen the movie
Apollo-13, about the Apollo-13
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those crippled
spacecraft going to the moon,
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I remember the
reality of it very well,
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and attempt to get
it back to the earth
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with the
astronauts in one piece.
00:10:22.19\00:10:24.94
Well there's this great scene,
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when the head of
NASA played by Ed Harris.
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He stands in front of a
group of people, co-workers
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and he has got to
chalkboard up there
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and he has got a crude drawing
of the earth and the moon,
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and he has a crude drawing
of the Apollo spacecraft.
00:10:39.88\00:10:43.87
And basically what he said
that they were going to do,
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is he said that they were going
to have the spacecraft circle
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behind the moon
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and let the gravity of
the moon catch the spacecraft
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and zing ricochet back to earth.
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And you know what?
That's what they did.
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And you know,
what's even more amazing.
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Hey, folks, it worked.
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Now they were
using at that point,
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they were using
pure Newtonian physics.
00:11:11.94\00:11:16.72
The physics
that Newton developed
00:11:16.75\00:11:18.53
as a young man in the 1600's.
00:11:18.56\00:11:21.34
You know, if
somehow they could have
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transported
Newton from the 1600's
00:11:23.15\00:11:26.13
and brought him into that room,
00:11:26.16\00:11:27.86
sat him down with the
sheet of paper and a pencil
00:11:27.89\00:11:31.06
and giving
Newton a few variables
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and probably 10 minutes
00:11:33.99\00:11:35.32
Sir Isaac could have told
them given on the computation
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and told them exactly
what they needed to do
00:11:38.41\00:11:40.85
in order to get
the spacecraft back.
00:11:40.88\00:11:44.71
Okay, talk about
wonders of wonders,
00:11:44.74\00:11:47.83
I mean how can we refuse
this after all it worked.
00:11:47.86\00:11:53.05
Therefore, air
go it must be true.
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This my, friends,
00:11:58.34\00:12:00.51
is one of the grand
fallacies and misconceptions
00:12:00.54\00:12:04.83
that people have about science.
00:12:04.86\00:12:08.16
For starters let's go back
and look at the Newton again.
00:12:08.19\00:12:11.52
For starters Isaac
Newton didn't have any clue
00:12:11.55\00:12:16.09
what gravity was.
00:12:16.12\00:12:17.89
He says, "I
feign no hypothesis."
00:12:17.92\00:12:20.64
He had no idea what gravity
was or how why these objects
00:12:20.67\00:12:25.25
would attract each
other with the force
00:12:25.28\00:12:27.16
that they do
proportional to their distances
00:12:27.19\00:12:29.21
and their mass.
00:12:29.24\00:12:30.27
He had no conclude idea why?
00:12:30.30\00:12:32.37
In fact he even
said that the idea
00:12:32.40\00:12:34.92
that two forces being able
to attract each other like this,
00:12:34.95\00:12:38.48
he said was so absurd,
00:12:38.51\00:12:39.79
he didn't know why
anybody would believe it.
00:12:39.82\00:12:41.78
Now Newton was
talking about his own theory,
00:12:41.81\00:12:44.89
so he had no idea what it was?
00:12:44.92\00:12:48.32
Secondly, Newton developed his
theory based on two premises,
00:12:48.35\00:12:54.35
both of which had
been now shown to be false.
00:12:54.38\00:12:57.87
He based his theory on
the concept of absolute time
00:12:57.90\00:13:01.82
and absolute space,
00:13:01.85\00:13:03.48
and they were
both shown to be wrong.
00:13:03.51\00:13:06.35
Finally read
till this last point.
00:13:06.38\00:13:09.41
Newton's theory was--
00:13:09.44\00:13:10.62
I wouldn't say it
has been overturned,
00:13:10.65\00:13:13.65
it has been superseded
00:13:13.68\00:13:15.73
by Albert Einstein's
theory of relativity.
00:13:15.76\00:13:20.22
Now what is this mean?
00:13:20.25\00:13:21.81
We know, we often
hail Newton's work
00:13:21.84\00:13:23.83
on the law of
gravity as a class of--
00:13:23.86\00:13:26.30
account of how
science reveals truth to us.
00:13:26.33\00:13:29.30
And yet what?
00:13:29.33\00:13:30.84
Newton had no clue
as to what gravity was.
00:13:30.87\00:13:34.76
No clue as to how it worked.
00:13:34.79\00:13:36.95
He built his
premises on some false,
00:13:36.98\00:13:39.66
he built his
theory on false premises,
00:13:39.69\00:13:42.31
and the theory it worked
only in certain circumstances
00:13:42.34\00:13:45.72
and in many ways
00:13:45.75\00:13:46.94
the foundation
of the whole theory
00:13:46.97\00:13:49.38
has been
superseded by something else.
00:13:49.41\00:13:53.58
This is finding truth,
00:13:53.61\00:13:57.39
all Newton's theory
did was make predictions.
00:13:57.42\00:14:02.49
Now if that's all you
think that science is for,
00:14:02.52\00:14:05.31
and some people do
think that, then this is fine.
00:14:05.34\00:14:08.44
And you know, it
was a smashing success
00:14:08.47\00:14:11.23
at least it certain
within certain speed limits.
00:14:11.26\00:14:15.75
But this brings up
00:14:15.78\00:14:17.10
a very crucial
misconception about science,
00:14:17.13\00:14:20.87
and it has to do with
what I talked about earlier.
00:14:20.90\00:14:24.82
Just because
the "science works,"
00:14:24.85\00:14:29.45
just because we
can use it to make
00:14:29.48\00:14:32.21
accurate
predictions about the world,
00:14:32.24\00:14:35.41
just because we
can use it to make
00:14:35.44\00:14:37.47
electric razors or smart phones,
00:14:37.50\00:14:40.18
does it mean
that our understanding
00:14:40.21\00:14:42.01
of it is
complete or even correct.
00:14:42.04\00:14:47.27
That theologian who
said because science works
00:14:47.30\00:14:49.86
we just can't
dismiss it doesn't understand
00:14:49.89\00:14:53.31
some of the
severed limits on science.
00:14:53.34\00:14:57.28
Let me give you another example.
00:14:57.31\00:15:00.33
Let's take the
Ptolemy view of the cosmos,
00:15:00.36\00:15:06.24
which were 1300 years
dominated Western thought.
00:15:06.27\00:15:10.88
This is the idea
that the earth sat
00:15:10.91\00:15:13.63
at the center of the universe
00:15:13.66\00:15:15.53
and all the stars,
and all the planets
00:15:15.56\00:15:18.01
and everything circled the earth
00:15:18.04\00:15:20.69
in orbit of the
earth in perfect circles.
00:15:20.72\00:15:24.08
This belief goes back long even
before than Aristotle plotted,
00:15:24.11\00:15:28.57
and it was-- it was believed
00:15:28.60\00:15:31.26
in the western
world for centuries, okay.
00:15:31.29\00:15:34.57
But guess what,
folks? It worked, it worked.
00:15:34.60\00:15:38.78
If you wanted to sail
your ship from Lisbon to Venice
00:15:38.81\00:15:43.47
it would get you there.
00:15:43.50\00:15:44.79
If you wanted to predict
00:15:44.82\00:15:46.43
what some stars would
be doing in six months,
00:15:46.46\00:15:49.20
the Ptolemaic worldview
enabled you to do just that,
00:15:49.23\00:15:53.35
even though-- come on
00:15:53.38\00:15:54.48
it was
completely radically wrong.
00:15:54.51\00:15:57.31
I mean a theory that positive
a stationary earth wrong,
00:15:57.34\00:16:02.75
sitting at the center
of the universe wrong,
00:16:02.78\00:16:05.85
with everything
orbiting it in perfect spheres--
00:16:05.88\00:16:09.21
prefect circles wrong,
00:16:09.24\00:16:11.13
still enabled people to
make accurate predictions,
00:16:11.16\00:16:15.11
and enables you
to sail your ship
00:16:15.14\00:16:17.84
from Lisbon to Venice.
00:16:17.87\00:16:21.58
God, that's about as wrong
as arguing for a flat earth.
00:16:21.61\00:16:26.34
But you know, and I
haven't looked into it,
00:16:26.37\00:16:28.95
but I think it
would be kind to fun.
00:16:28.98\00:16:31.32
What kind of
accurate predictions
00:16:31.35\00:16:33.11
could somebody
make about the earth,
00:16:33.14\00:16:34.82
and what goes on
here on the earth
00:16:34.85\00:16:37.62
from a flat earth perspective?
00:16:37.65\00:16:40.15
I'd be willing to bet
00:16:40.18\00:16:41.21
that you could build
a system of predictions,
00:16:41.24\00:16:43.72
interpretations
based on a flat earth
00:16:43.75\00:16:48.26
that would properly bear
00:16:48.29\00:16:49.40
a certain amount
of practical fruit.
00:16:49.43\00:16:51.81
Anyway, the point is out
to some degree it would work.
00:16:51.84\00:16:56.46
But can you see my point here,
00:16:56.49\00:16:59.60
just because
something works in science,
00:16:59.63\00:17:03.01
just because it
makes predictions
00:17:03.04\00:17:05.51
just because--
accurate predictions,
00:17:05.54\00:17:07.56
just because
something of a practical value
00:17:07.59\00:17:10.91
can be cashed out of
it, doesn't necessarily mean
00:17:10.94\00:17:14.79
the science behind it
is correct, it might be.
00:17:14.82\00:17:18.67
And in some
cases it probably is,
00:17:18.70\00:17:20.81
but as we've seen it always,
always doesn't have to be.
00:17:20.84\00:17:25.86
We are impressed by
science and rightly so,
00:17:25.89\00:17:29.65
because science
really does give us
00:17:29.68\00:17:31.94
some incredible technology.
00:17:31.97\00:17:34.18
And which you can see
how well it works, okay.
00:17:34.21\00:17:37.04
But that's no guarantee
that the theory is correct.
00:17:37.07\00:17:41.55
It might be right
and we may be have
00:17:41.58\00:17:44.58
great reasons other
than its mere accuracy
00:17:44.61\00:17:47.00
to believe it's
right, but it might not be.
00:17:47.03\00:17:51.67
Let me give you an
example right now in the--
00:17:51.70\00:17:54.72
right in the
forefront of science
00:17:54.75\00:17:57.14
and technology today.
00:17:57.17\00:18:00.07
General
relativity and quantum theory
00:18:00.10\00:18:02.46
are two of the most
powerful scientific concepts
00:18:02.49\00:18:07.65
and they have been verified
00:18:07.68\00:18:09.17
over and over and
over in the 20th century,
00:18:09.20\00:18:12.40
especially quantum theory.
00:18:12.43\00:18:14.11
I've heard they
said that quantum theory
00:18:14.14\00:18:15.77
can make prediction so accurate,
00:18:15.80\00:18:18.07
it's like comparing a human hair
00:18:18.10\00:18:21.08
to the width of the
continental United States,
00:18:21.11\00:18:25.66
that's how accurate it is.
00:18:25.69\00:18:27.98
And not only do
we use quantum theory
00:18:28.01\00:18:30.05
in our cell phones,
00:18:30.08\00:18:31.59
we use general
relativity in our GPS's.
00:18:31.62\00:18:35.07
In other word these theories
00:18:35.10\00:18:36.43
not only make
accurate predictions
00:18:36.46\00:18:39.22
but they bear very
fruitful technology.
00:18:39.25\00:18:41.62
My cell phone, my iPhone uses
00:18:41.65\00:18:43.69
quantum theory and
general relativity.
00:18:43.72\00:18:48.35
Now let me read you a quote
from physicist Brian Greene,
00:18:48.38\00:18:54.38
in his book the
Elegant Universe.
00:18:54.41\00:18:57.01
He talks about these theories
and he says they are almost
00:18:57.04\00:19:00.40
unimaginable accurate
virtually all predictions made
00:19:00.43\00:19:04.51
by these theories
have been correct.
00:19:04.54\00:19:07.11
Okay, so they
are making amazingly
00:19:07.14\00:19:09.42
accurate predictions, okay.
00:19:09.45\00:19:11.96
Just like Newton's gravity made
some pretty good predictions.
00:19:11.99\00:19:16.46
But then listen
to what he writes,
00:19:16.49\00:19:19.73
"As they are
currently formulated,
00:19:19.76\00:19:22.98
general
relativity and quantum theory
00:19:23.01\00:19:25.64
cannot both be right.
00:19:25.67\00:19:28.76
The two theories underlying
00:19:28.79\00:19:30.79
the tremendous
progress of physics
00:19:30.82\00:19:33.25
during the last hundred years
are mutually incompatible."
00:19:33.28\00:19:39.56
Wow, that's heavy.
00:19:39.59\00:19:42.91
We have two of the most
successful scientific theories,
00:19:42.94\00:19:47.64
that have-- and
that have given us
00:19:47.67\00:19:49.05
incredible
technology and yet what?
00:19:49.08\00:19:52.54
They are in places incompatible.
00:19:52.57\00:19:55.67
If one is true
the other can't be,
00:19:55.70\00:19:58.51
they both can't be right.
00:19:58.54\00:20:00.56
But how can one
of them be wrong?
00:20:00.59\00:20:02.10
And how could they even be wrong
00:20:02.13\00:20:04.01
if they give us
such accurate predictions
00:20:04.04\00:20:06.63
and give us such
powerful technology.
00:20:06.66\00:20:10.37
See don't miss
the deeper point here.
00:20:10.40\00:20:13.74
Two of the premier
theories of science,
00:20:13.77\00:20:18.17
two of what are
considered the greatest--
00:20:18.20\00:20:20.68
the 20th century's
greatest scientific achievements
00:20:20.71\00:20:25.30
and yet what?
00:20:25.33\00:20:27.19
Something is seriously
wrong with our understanding
00:20:27.22\00:20:31.20
of either one of
them or both of them.
00:20:31.23\00:20:35.48
I find that fascinating.
00:20:35.51\00:20:37.06
They work, they
give us predictions
00:20:37.09\00:20:39.90
and yet we know
00:20:39.93\00:20:41.61
that there is
something wrong there.
00:20:41.64\00:20:43.69
You know, if you are interested
00:20:43.72\00:20:44.98
there is a great
series of lectures,
00:20:45.01\00:20:48.17
from a place called
the teaching company called
00:20:48.20\00:20:50.62
Science Wars by
Dr. Steven Goldman.
00:20:50.65\00:20:54.23
And if you're
interested in this,
00:20:54.26\00:20:55.82
he does his great
series of lectures on this.
00:20:55.85\00:20:58.82
but one of the
fascinating things
00:20:58.85\00:21:00.27
just he talked about in 1800's
00:21:00.30\00:21:03.29
there were great
technical rewards
00:21:03.32\00:21:06.00
were coming from science,
00:21:06.03\00:21:07.80
they only they were
building all sorts of widgets
00:21:07.83\00:21:09.99
and all sorts of
devices based on this--
00:21:10.02\00:21:12.95
this science that
they had in the 1800's.
00:21:12.98\00:21:15.67
The only problem
was by the 1900's
00:21:15.70\00:21:18.92
almost all those
scientific theories
00:21:18.95\00:21:21.55
were being overturned.
00:21:21.58\00:21:23.85
In other words,
they were said to them
00:21:23.88\00:21:26.66
they're making a great--
00:21:26.69\00:21:27.72
you're making a
widget based on a theory,
00:21:27.75\00:21:30.30
but they are being
told, oh by the way
00:21:30.33\00:21:32.33
the theory you have
used to make that widget
00:21:32.36\00:21:34.87
we now know is wrong.
00:21:34.90\00:21:39.18
Thus the
practical gains from science
00:21:39.21\00:21:43.11
prove only that we
understand the science
00:21:43.14\00:21:45.75
well enough, well to
get practical gains from it.
00:21:45.78\00:21:49.24
These gains don't do's
those gains prove nothing
00:21:49.27\00:21:52.60
about the absolute correctness
of the science itself.
00:21:52.63\00:21:57.16
A theory can
make great predictions
00:21:57.19\00:21:59.76
and even give us
proof full technology
00:21:59.79\00:22:04.05
and still not be giving us
00:22:04.08\00:22:06.00
an accurate
depiction of reality.
00:22:06.03\00:22:10.25
This leads to
something that has been greatly
00:22:10.28\00:22:12.73
and hotly
contested among scientists
00:22:12.76\00:22:16.26
from a couple hundred years
00:22:16.29\00:22:17.55
and they're still
debating it today.
00:22:17.58\00:22:19.94
And look the
idea is very simple.
00:22:19.97\00:22:22.10
In the 1700-1800's
00:22:22.13\00:22:23.51
there was a big debate
over the nature of heat.
00:22:23.54\00:22:26.08
What is heat?
00:22:26.11\00:22:27.14
People came up
with different ideas,
00:22:27.17\00:22:28.94
and hate some phlogiston theory,
00:22:28.97\00:22:30.72
the caloric theory.
00:22:30.75\00:22:32.62
Well, in 1822 a
Frenchmen came along
00:22:32.65\00:22:35.06
and wrote a book called
the analytical theory of heat,
00:22:35.09\00:22:38.58
and the bottom line is he said,
it doesn't matter what heat is,
00:22:38.61\00:22:43.36
forget about what
heat is, all that matters
00:22:43.39\00:22:46.63
is just can we make predictions?
00:22:46.66\00:22:49.50
Can we use it to
do what we want to do?
00:22:49.53\00:22:52.42
Don't worry about what it is?
00:22:52.45\00:22:54.67
And see this
gets to a big debate
00:22:54.70\00:22:57.67
in the whole question of
science of what science is?
00:22:57.70\00:23:02.57
One group is out
there that science is there
00:23:02.60\00:23:05.81
to tell us how
the world really is.
00:23:05.84\00:23:08.95
It's out there
to teach us truth.
00:23:08.98\00:23:11.92
If that's true
though, then as we saw
00:23:11.95\00:23:14.83
Newton's famous laws of gravity,
00:23:14.86\00:23:18.36
Newton's famous law
that we all learned,
00:23:18.39\00:23:20.95
if that's what
science is supposed to do,
00:23:20.98\00:23:23.23
then Newton's
theory failed completely.
00:23:23.26\00:23:28.06
On the other hand other
say please science does not
00:23:28.09\00:23:32.56
and cannot tell us
what's really out there.
00:23:32.59\00:23:35.41
That can't tell us what
is truth, that's nonsense.
00:23:35.44\00:23:38.41
All science could do is
help us make predictions
00:23:38.44\00:23:42.06
about the world
and how it works.
00:23:42.09\00:23:44.48
If it tells you that, you have X
00:23:44.51\00:23:47.26
and if you do such
and such of X you get Y.
00:23:47.29\00:23:50.34
We know if you have X
00:23:50.37\00:23:51.77
and you bring Y to you'll get Z,
00:23:51.80\00:23:54.09
that's all it can do.
00:23:54.12\00:23:56.37
It can tell us what,
but it can't tell us why?
00:23:56.40\00:24:00.86
At least not in
any absolute sense.
00:24:00.89\00:24:05.50
So right of the bat
here we see that science even
00:24:05.53\00:24:09.37
something as successful
as Newton's law of gravity,
00:24:09.40\00:24:13.72
which allows us to
make incredible predictions,
00:24:13.75\00:24:17.70
isn't really quite cut out,
isn't really quite every thing
00:24:17.73\00:24:22.59
that we are led
to believe it was.
00:24:22.62\00:24:25.21
And it's fascinating
that, and so basic a question
00:24:25.24\00:24:29.15
as to what science does
at a very foundational level
00:24:29.18\00:24:33.08
there is a great
debate among scientists,
00:24:33.11\00:24:36.12
then and philosophers
and scientists themselves.
00:24:36.15\00:24:38.90
They don't even agree on
what science really does.
00:24:38.93\00:24:42.90
And trust me, this is one only
00:24:42.93\00:24:44.44
one of the many
unsolved debates likes this
00:24:44.47\00:24:47.82
that remain in
this whole area today.
00:24:47.85\00:24:51.33
Does science really
tell us about the world?
00:24:51.36\00:24:54.67
Does it really tell us truth?
00:24:54.70\00:24:57.35
Or does it simply
tell us how the world acts?
00:24:57.38\00:25:00.82
What it does under
such and such conditions?
00:25:00.85\00:25:04.30
These are two very
different things too.
00:25:04.33\00:25:07.46
Now, I want to be careful here.
00:25:07.49\00:25:10.32
I don't want to go
too far the other way
00:25:10.35\00:25:13.70
and you get into
this radical postmodernism
00:25:13.73\00:25:18.04
and this whole idea
that science is this--
00:25:18.07\00:25:22.04
it's really just a
power tool of the elite
00:25:22.07\00:25:24.96
to oppress minorities
and women and anything
00:25:24.99\00:25:29.13
that are in the in crowd,
00:25:29.16\00:25:30.95
I mean they-- I once
read where some body once did
00:25:30.98\00:25:34.08
a feminist
critic of mathematics.
00:25:34.11\00:25:37.42
Can you imagine?
00:25:37.45\00:25:38.48
A feminist critic
of mathematics please,
00:25:38.51\00:25:42.18
we are not going down that road,
00:25:42.21\00:25:43.87
that's getting too far.
00:25:43.90\00:25:45.17
Somebody even came
up with wrote a paper
00:25:45.20\00:25:47.58
talk once called
toward a feminist algebra.
00:25:47.61\00:25:52.00
I mean, please I
don't want to go that far.
00:25:52.03\00:25:54.65
I don't want to get
down to that extreme.
00:25:54.68\00:25:58.02
But what I want to
show in this series
00:25:58.05\00:26:00.39
is that we don't have
to automatically bow down
00:26:00.42\00:26:03.74
and kowtow and surrender
in every belief we have,
00:26:03.77\00:26:08.70
when somebody declares
that science teaches it
00:26:08.73\00:26:11.99
or that the science works
and so on and so forth, okay.
00:26:12.02\00:26:17.21
You know, but at the same time
00:26:17.24\00:26:18.59
we don't want to go
too far the other way.
00:26:18.62\00:26:21.28
It's not just the
bunch of happy coincidences
00:26:21.31\00:26:24.38
that the work on
the Manhattan progress,
00:26:24.41\00:26:27.25
you know, that they said
00:26:27.28\00:26:28.55
they wanted to
build a nuclear bomb
00:26:28.58\00:26:30.26
and sure enough, kaboom,
they built the nuclear bomb.
00:26:30.29\00:26:33.67
There is no
question science I believe
00:26:33.70\00:26:36.82
is telling us
something about the real world.
00:26:36.85\00:26:42.49
But there is an
independent reality out there,
00:26:42.52\00:26:46.60
regardless of how subjectively
00:26:46.63\00:26:48.75
we interact with it
and seek to understand it.
00:26:48.78\00:26:52.51
And to say that
science deals with reality,
00:26:52.54\00:26:54.95
yet to say that
science deals with reality.
00:26:54.98\00:26:58.63
Doesn't make it infallible
and absolutely correct
00:26:58.66\00:27:02.40
in its understanding of reality.
00:27:02.43\00:27:05.89
If you study the
history of science
00:27:05.92\00:27:09.94
and it shows us that
all through history time
00:27:09.97\00:27:13.02
and again science
has not been correct.
00:27:13.05\00:27:17.88
Even when the science works,
00:27:17.91\00:27:20.73
even when you can get
fruitful technology from it,
00:27:20.76\00:27:25.50
to build devices
travel, make predictions,
00:27:25.53\00:27:29.88
and it turned out we
could do that all these theories
00:27:29.91\00:27:33.06
that are now
tossed on the junk pile.
00:27:33.09\00:27:37.31
Thus I think we
could safely assume
00:27:37.34\00:27:41.01
that some of what science
tells us today is correct.
00:27:41.04\00:27:46.40
And that some of the science
00:27:46.43\00:27:47.85
even that science
that works us correct.
00:27:47.88\00:27:50.59
But I think we
could safely assume too,
00:27:50.62\00:27:53.91
that some what the
science tells us today,
00:27:53.94\00:27:56.88
things that come with
the imprimatur of science,
00:27:56.91\00:28:00.13
even things that they say
are scientifically proven.,
00:28:00.16\00:28:03.89
even things that
science does that works,
00:28:03.92\00:28:07.71
we can have all that
and yet it's very possible
00:28:07.74\00:28:11.40
it could be wrong.
00:28:11.43\00:28:12.69
Something we as believers
need to ever keep in mind.
00:28:12.72\00:28:16.52