"Science and the Worship of Truth"

[mr blur]

Found at The Primate Diaries

http://scienceblogs.com/primatediaries/2009/10/science_and_the_worship_of_tru.php

I am tremendously excited to have David Sloan Wilson as a member of ScienceBlogs, and having had a small role in his decision is extremely gratifying. However, I take serious issue with the thesis of his first entry that bears the subtitle "Science as a Religion that Worships Truth as its God." This sat uncomfortably with me when I first saw it and it's been a persistent irritation ever since.

A light went off when I read one of the comments on his inaugural post. It was buried down the list (#54 to be precise), was only two sentences long, and would easily have been overlooked if I didn't recognize his telltale handle. It was from my former blog colleague Henry Gee, Senior Editor at Nature. Henry wrote:

Your slogan is flat-out wrong and betrays a fundamental flaw in your understanding of what science is. Science is not a religion that worships Truth as its God - Science is a Religion that Worships Doubt.

I think there's a danger reflected in the idea of perceiving the results of science as revealed Truth akin to religion. As I've discussed before, it is my view that science and religion are fundamentally different. First, however, it's important to point out the ways in which they are the same. Having studied primates for many years (specifically bonobos) it's very easy to spot similarities between human societies. Primates, whether bonobos or humans, are fond of forming groups and developing social hierarchies. Individuals rise within those hierarchies based on ability and political patronage. This is so obvious that it's not often appreciated.

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Interesting read.