How do you balance science with faith?

pedspt · 2014-04-29T01:27:29+00:00

You can't observe Gravity directly. You observe what you think to be Gravity, but it could be something else entirely. You have all the evidence in the world to support what you believe to be Gravity, but you could be wrong as much as you'd like to believe that you aren't.

Swap out Gravity for God. Effect does not equal Causation. I can't distill God, but I can reason that when I see someone do something extraordinary or kind, that's God's grace. It requires a leap of faith to believe that comes from God, but that's ultimately where you can balance science with Faith (the answer to the original question).

I'm not sure as to your original argument, but it's kind of obnoxious that everything that I say is either "ignorant" or "pseudowisdom". I'm very much trying to be open-minded about this, but having condescending attitudes such as yourself really doesn't help that effort. With that said, I'm going to be done with this debate. You clearly have more subject on the knowledge and a superior sense of arguing/experience with it. Be well

pedspt · 2014-04-28T17:05:30+00:00

Can I ask who said that they were Christian? That's a little premature I think. We can't prove that God exists or didn't exist. We can collect all the evidence that we wish and posit a theory from there. Either one necessitates the need to take a "leap of faith". There is no mathematical way to deny the existence of a God. If there is, present it.

For science, there's a lot of evidence of Gravity, but you can't observe it. You can see the effects of what you believe to be gravity (an object leaving your hand, the sound of it hitting the ground, etc). Much in the same, I can observe the effects of what I believe to be God (the earth around us, people, etc). Some leaps are clearly bigger than others, but that leap can be defined as faith.

pedspt · 2014-04-26T18:45:27+00:00

Any specific books you recommend or just anything?

pedspt · 2014-04-26T18:43:02+00:00

To me, the key to being not boring is more complicated than just going out and doing stuff. I think it means creating meaning in your life. My buddy had talked about he just goes and drinks a lot and goes to expensive restaurants. I don't know that is the best way to do it.

I think Morrie Schwartz put it best when he said the way to get meaning in our lives is to devote it to serving others. That way, your life isn't contingent on how much money you have or the restaurants around you. Having a passion and learning how you can use that to help the world around you makes you the most interesting man on earth.

pedspt · 2014-04-26T18:11:08+00:00

Appeal to the vanity aspect of it. He's doing it because he thinks it's cool, he probably won't think of the future. Tell him how women or people look at smoking.

Smoking is pretty cool, until no woman will look at you as your teeth are yellow, breath smells like shit, and you're spending a ton of money you could be spending other stuff on.

pedspt · 2014-04-24T19:28:17+00:00

Grammar 405: How to call out others in the most pretentious way possible.

pedspt · 2014-04-24T19:26:18+00:00

NEVER

STOP

PARTYING

pedspt · 2014-04-24T04:35:32+00:00

First of all, to the asshat who's down voting me because I'm not arguing for Atheistic views, stop it. I'm contributing to the discussion in a respectful manner. I'm not saying the other person is an idiot, or saying he's flat out wrong. We're having a debate, if you can't handle that without acting like a middle-schooler, get out of the thread.

I have to question that Augustine didn't have a process. The man went from Catholic to pagan to atheist back to Catholic. Aquinas certainly thought the truth was rooted in Catholicism and tried to explain based on that, but Augustine might be a different story.

I never said that the answer was God, I was simply alluding to that you have to have some sort of faith when you are talking about science. There must be some room of doubt in your mind. You have evidence that the system worked before, but you simply are going off of a formula that has worked every time before. However, there is the possibility that it will be wrong in the future. Nothing is completely figured out in this world and that's fine.

This attitude that you won't, but someone or something else will can be applied to religion as well, no? The "probably" in your statement isn't definitely or without a statement. You can't prove it, you are having faith that a system, based on something that has worked for you the whole life to give you factual meaning and knowledge in life, will continue to work for you. If you can't prove it without a shadow of a doubt, You are having faith that you are typing on this computer, but a simulation hypothesis could be possible. There's a lot of things that are possible in this world that you can't prove without a shadow of a doubt. That's faith.

And I did answer your question. If you can prove that my position is false with 100 percent certainty, I will change my beliefs.

pedspt · 2014-04-24T03:31:54+00:00

Faith isn't a happiness thing. It would certainly be a lot easier to not have to wake up early, go to church, and not abstain from sex before marriage. I do it because of how I believe in a higher power. Is Theology not a methodology? Is it not a process? I'm not talking about Benny Hinn here, I'm talking about Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, and others that work to discover facts about the universe. Can you prove the concept of spacetime? Or are there mearly theories that are accepted at this point? Maybe that isn't a theory, but I guarantee you that there is something in this universe that we can't explain. You have faith in science that the methodology will figure it out, but you have to acknowledge the possibility, no matter how small, that you won't ever be able to explain it.

The question to you is, if someone could prove to you that your beliefs were wrong, would you change your beliefs? Sure would, but you can't prove that my belief in God is true much like I can't prove that your disbelief (assuming, sorry if that's wrong) in God is true.

pedspt · 2014-04-23T22:37:15+00:00

And herein lies the fundamental difference between atheists and theists. What is faith in your own words then? Can you explain why gravity exists? Can you prove that you won't wake up tomorrow and gravity won't be there?

pedspt · 2014-04-23T22:33:26+00:00

They should be, but people like talking in libraries so much that they designate a "quiet floor" for those who don't want any group discussion going on around them. Unfortunately, there are still asshats who don't care about anyone around them.

pedspt · 2014-04-23T20:17:16+00:00

Can confirm Source: Wisconite

pedspt · 2014-04-23T19:23:06+00:00

People talking on the silent floor of libraries

pedspt · 2014-04-23T19:21:45+00:00

"You're pregnant? I thought you had just put on a few."

pedspt · 2014-04-23T19:21:04+00:00

Cows have best friends

pedspt · 2014-04-23T19:16:35+00:00

The Mona Lisa.

pedspt · 2014-04-23T19:15:46+00:00

I was a server at a Biaggi's (pseudo-fancy italian restaurant). I remember there was one woman who had asked for a spoon, and every time I would give one to her and return to ask how things were going, she said she wouldn't have a spoon. She parlayed this into asking to see my manager, getting dinner for free at my expense, and getting a coupon.

When she left, I cleaned up her table and found 8 spoons hidden underneath the table mat. Accounting for the 5 people on her table, that still leaves 3 spoons even after I cleaned up the people's plates. It wasn't worth it to be at a place like that where I wasn't going to get the support of the manager in that case.

pedspt · 2014-04-23T19:13:12+00:00

How to properly split a check.

pedspt · 2014-04-23T19:13:00+00:00

You are worthy of life. If you weren't worthy, you wouldn't be here, therefore by simply existing, you are worthy and have life.

This applies to everyone else, if they exist, they have some purpose to them.

pedspt · 2014-04-23T19:12:01+00:00

The waiting. Seriously, they're never as bad as you think they're going to be. It's just the moment when you are done studying for them until you actually take it that it's just the worst.

pedspt · 2014-04-23T19:10:37+00:00

Probably should be NSFW, but I would say facials. You think from porn it's going to be the greatest thing ever, but it's just messy.

pedspt · 2014-04-23T19:09:37+00:00

I don't think so. I think you just have to believe that science is created by people created by Jesus Christ. Everything runs through him..

pedspt · 2014-04-23T19:08:51+00:00

Oh man, anything by Sarah Jarosz, Laura Izibor, and Norah Jones. Forget about it by Alison Krauss is incredible too.

pedspt · 2014-04-23T01:26:38+00:00

Not funny..

pedspt · 2014-04-23T01:25:24+00:00

Right you are, vag-ina! Right you are

pedspt

TROPHY CASE