[X] My Assistant

[Pando]

Enjoy that one...

http://www.msnfound.com/MetaGenerator.ashx...backlot_p_h.wmv

(Doug, please move this outta here if it doesn't belong, don't know where else to put it...)

[dvandorn]

Exactly. What you'll note here is that spiritual beliefs (i.e., beliefs that must be taken on faith, that do not stand the scrutiny of scientific investigation) are what have, historically, kept civilizations from developing what we know as the scientific method. And, indeed, there is a discontinuity between a method that requires you to discard beliefs when they are disproven, and a set of beliefs that require you to *never* require proof of them.

And while my own spiritual beliefs tend toward the pagan, I am first and foremost a scientific rationalist. Which means that my spiritual beliefs are a subset of my world-view, not the whole set.

I'm a strong believer in spirituality. But I'm a stronger believer in scientific rationalism. And, as someone who chooses to learn from history (and not just ignore it when it conflicts with my preferred world-view), it seems clear to me that when non-rational world-views (i.e., most faith-based systems) are encouraged to take over your entire world-view, you lose the ability to question beliefs that are at best incorrect and at worst devastating dead-ends when it comes to developing useful technology.

Is it any wonder why this growing popular anti-science movement, based as it is on a backlash from those who want to dismiss science because it doesn't fit their faith-based world views, seems so threatening to me? And seeing what Richard has written, I'm not the only one with serious concerns.

-the other Doug