"In such a view, it doesn't seem (as you point out) that science can be some sort of standalone endeavour, untainted or unaffected by human prejudices."
It would also vary in degree depending on the subject matter.When the subject matter is origins it seems (at least to me) to be in full tilt mode.
I've followed most of the crevo threads for as long as there's been crevo threads.99% of the time in lurker mode.To be honest I'm not up to arguing the topic and I would hazard a guess and say that neither are 99.9% of people.
In the end it boils right down to 'trust me'.
Great article bb.
God bless
You wrote: "When the subject matter is origins it [prejudice] seems (at least to me) to be in full tilt mode." Oh, to me, too. But that stands to reason: On the question of origins, no one can say they really know anything, because no one was "there" to observe the origin.
Now the scientific method is based on direct observation and replicable experiments. Thus it would appear it really has no way to deal with origin events in the first place.
Neils Bohr suggested that the origin of life, for instance, is either "undecidable" or just flat-out "unknowable" on the basis of the scientific method.
But people constructing world views need to have an origin. Otherwise they do not have a comprehensive account of the world they view. So yes, they have to go into "full-tilt mode" to come up with an origin "theory" (which really would be simply a conjecture). The point is science is no help to them on that score, so ultimately they must have recourse to a "faith statement."
I'm not terribly willing to accept the "trust me" formula. Not for the benefit of people who play fast and loose with the limits of science.
God bless you too, Mitch!
It would also vary in degree depending on the subject matter.When the subject matter is origins it seems (at least to me) to be in full tilt mode.
Good point, mitch5501. The more an area of study touches on the "big questions" - where did we come from, why are we here, where are we going? - the more vulnerable it would seem to be to human prejudice.