Religion throughout history attempted to explain the unexplainable until science explained it. (Reply #10)

In the discussion thread: Why Science Can’t Replace Religion [View all]

Fri Aug 24, 2012, 01:34 PM

Lint Head (15,064 posts)

10. Religion throughout history attempted to explain the unexplainable until science explained it.

Their are still things that are unexplainable and religion, conspiracies and myth will fill the void that fear leaves.
Fear is a powerful weapon when authority needs to control the masses. It is also a convenient weapon considering the
percentage of human beings who believe in omnipresent beings and magic.

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119 replies	Author	Time	Post
Why Science Can’t Replace Religion [View all]	cbayer	Aug 2012	OP
Is this a fight between believers and non believers? People who are firm in their beliefs do not	upaloopa	Aug 2012	#1
I would also posit that those who are firm in their disbelief	cbayer	Aug 2012	#3
I meant a believer could also be a non believer. Yes it works both ways.	upaloopa	Aug 2012	#5
The beginning of religion must have really been a pretty intelligent	brewens	Aug 2012	#2
There is some interesting work on the evolutionary value of religious beliefs.	cbayer	Aug 2012	#4
Some religious practices may have been beneficial and some disasters throughout	brewens	Aug 2012	#6
Nothing can replace religion.	MineralMan	Aug 2012	#7
Nonbelief is still something.	rug	Aug 2012	#9
Is it, rug?	MineralMan	Aug 2012	#12
Yes it is.	rug	Aug 2012	#18
Ah, OK, rug, whatever you say...	MineralMan	Aug 2012	#21
Thank you for your permission.	rug	Aug 2012	#23
No permission is required, from me or anyone else.	MineralMan	Aug 2012	#25
Oh I see	Stryder	Aug 2012	#103
Does your nonWinnebago have any meaning without a concept of a Winnebago?	rug	Aug 2012	#104
Not sure I understand the question but I'll take a stab	Stryder	Aug 2012	#106
In order to have a nonWinnebago you must know what a Winnebago is.	rug	Aug 2012	#107
OK I see what you're saying	Stryder	Aug 2012	#108
It wouldn't exist.	rug	Aug 2012	#109
So...	Stryder	Aug 2012	#110
Sure, if somebody asserted it.	rug	Aug 2012	#111
I'll give you,	Stryder	Aug 2012	#112
Keep posting!	rug	Aug 2012	#113
Um, has someone actually said that it should?	trotsky	Aug 2012	#8
Religion throughout history attempted to explain the unexplainable until science explained it.	Lint Head	Aug 2012	#10
Your link takes me to Discover Magazine, but I get: Error 404 - Not Found - once there.	Jim__	Aug 2012	#11
Weird. It did the same for me. I reposted the link after doing	cbayer	Aug 2012	#14
Thanks. It works now.	Jim__	Aug 2012	#19
A more honest article would be	intaglio	Aug 2012	#13
I haven't seen any claims that religion replaces science, but have seen	cbayer	Aug 2012	#15
Yes, there are things that can't be explained.	MineralMan	Aug 2012	#16
What happens when the "unexplainable" is explained	intaglio	Aug 2012	#17
How does mathematics, neurology, population genetics and behavioral science explain morality?	rug	Aug 2012	#20
Morality is a behavioral issue, really.	MineralMan	Aug 2012	#24
If it's simply behavioral, and the result of . . . whatever, then it's not morality.	rug	Aug 2012	#28
It's a matter of definition.	MineralMan	Aug 2012	#32
In this case, it's a matter of substance.	rug	Aug 2012	#39
So what is morality in your opinion	intaglio	Aug 2012	#48
I accept the most conventional one.	rug	Aug 2012	#55
You've just moved the goal posts by using a weak dictionary definition	intaglio	Aug 2012	#56
You are simply describing natural law, not morality.	rug	Aug 2012	#58
You again refuse to read	intaglio	Aug 2012	#59
You demonstrated nothing.	rug	Aug 2012	#60
Demonstration	intaglio	Aug 2012	#62
Ossa and Pelion!	rug	Aug 2012	#64
WELL SAID!	eqfan592	Aug 2012	#67
You forgot to mention	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#69
serotonin levels affect altruistic behavior.	Warren Stupidity	Aug 2012	#40
They do, indeed.	MineralMan	Aug 2012	#42
And many, many things can affect serotonin levels.	cbayer	Aug 2012	#43
Oh, dear	intaglio	Aug 2012	#26
Then how does science measure a "philosophical concept"?	rug	Aug 2012	#29
I did not say it did	intaglio	Aug 2012	#45
Does the word "just" confuse you?	rug	Aug 2012	#61
Nice try, but the negative takes priority	intaglio	Aug 2012	#63
Hmm. "not just", "not simply", "not only".	rug	Aug 2012	#65
Of all the things that can be known, I would suggest that we know a minuscule amount.	cbayer	Aug 2012	#22
One at a time	intaglio	Aug 2012	#44
Your answers are interesting and come from your own perspective and experience.	cbayer	Aug 2012	#46
So you have no rebutals	intaglio	Aug 2012	#47
Why do you feel the need to make this so personal?	cbayer	Aug 2012	#49
Because, at base, you live a life unexamined	intaglio	Aug 2012	#57
Respectfully, you have no idea what you are talking about.	cbayer	Aug 2012	#66
Your incessant posting of all sorts of nonsense	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#70
None of which would be quite as bad	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#68
Just out of curiosity,	LTX	Aug 2012	#88
Not sure whether you're aiming that at me or cbayer	intaglio	Aug 2012	#91
Well, some of both	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#93
Because science doesn't promise you'll go to heaven if you believe in it and give it money?	truebrit71	Aug 2012	#27
I thought the explanation in the article was pretty good,	cbayer	Aug 2012	#30
Religion doesn't need to be replaced...	Kalidurga	Aug 2012	#31
If that's all it means to you, then you are right not to participate.	cbayer	Aug 2012	#34
The corner pub is another sort of gathering place.	MineralMan	Aug 2012	#36
Science doesn't need to replace religion. Religion needs to just go away.	stopbush	Aug 2012	#33
Not going to happen.	cbayer	Aug 2012	#35
You're right, of course.	MineralMan	Aug 2012	#38
"For those who cannot follow the mathematics, belief in the Higgs is an act of faith, ...	Jim__	Aug 2012	#37
Wow, that is some pretty inspired writing.	cbayer	Aug 2012	#41
What unadulterated hogwash	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#75
No, belief in the Higgs boson is not the same as belief in Brunei or tsetse flies.	Jim__	Aug 2012	#85
See, even you need	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#87
Believing in the Higgs boson is fundamentally different than believing in electrons because ...	Jim__	Aug 2012	#96
And yet "belief" in the Higgs boson is also fundamentally different than...	trotsky	Aug 2012	#97
So in other words you have no answer	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#98
You claiming that I'm "making new things up" is comical.	Jim__	Aug 2012	#114
You made up the "fact"	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#115
No, actually I didn't just make up the fact that just about anyone can run an equivalent ...	Jim__	Aug 2012	#116
I noticed you very conspicuously ducked and dodged	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#117
For those who cannot follow the mathematics, belief in the Higgs is an act of faith in science.	enki23	Aug 2012	#78
The article suggests religion has been around for a long time, won't go away. It's like	dimbear	Aug 2012	#50
that might be true for people whose understanding of science is too poor...	mike_c	Aug 2012	#51
But is yours the only way?	cbayer	Aug 2012	#52
no, I didn't say-- nor did I mean-- that an inability to understand science...	mike_c	Aug 2012	#71
Agree with what you say here concerning replacing scientific facts with	cbayer	Aug 2012	#72
You can understand that religion has emotional power without believing any of the dumbshit tenets	Nay	Aug 2012	#53
Why "Why Science Can't Replace Religion" is a straw man.	longship	Aug 2012	#54
As Einstein said, "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."	SarahM32	Aug 2012	#73
And right after that line, Einstein said...	onager	Aug 2012	#74
And rightly so.	SarahM32	Aug 2012	#100
I have noted before how the faithful cherrypick words	intaglio	Aug 2012	#105
And "what god is" would be what, exactly?	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#99
The One.	SarahM32	Aug 2012	#101
Oh for fuck's sake. Science is constantly replacing religion as an understanding of the world	enki23	Aug 2012	#76
My position is that despite all that science has taught us, we know only the most	cbayer	Aug 2012	#79
It doesn't help them understand anything.	enki23	Aug 2012	#80
Providing comfort and being meaningful	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#84
First, know your assumptions, for Christ's sake!!	Coyotl	Aug 2012	#77
Science is the process by which we encroach ever further into the former provinces of of the divine.	enki23	Aug 2012	#81
Well, it's great to know that someone around here has the definitive and final answers	cbayer	Aug 2012	#82
And it's great to know	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#83
Just a point of clarification -	LTX	Aug 2012	#89
Well, that depends on what kind	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#92
It is semantics after a fashion,	LTX	Aug 2012	#94
They actually did no such thing.	trotsky	Aug 2012	#95
Amen, brother.	LAGC	Aug 2012	#86
"rational explanation...can't match the feeling evoked by...religious symbolism"	PassingFair	Aug 2012	#90
Recreation myth	tama	Aug 2012	#102
Well, if people were saying that	skepticscott	Aug 2012	#118
Yep n/t	tama	Aug 2012	#119

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