More controversy.
Please note that Jay is the author of this comic! Not me. I share some of his misgivings about the social power afforded scientists in our culture, sure, but I don’t think that’s the only arena in which we have experts in one field pronouncing on things they know nothing about. It goes both ways–religionists and philosophers have also been known to make sweeping claims about science without having done a lick of research. We have actors and celebrities blathering vacuously about politics, we have politicians making vociferous moral judgments on video games.
What do you think? Do we as a society give too much intellectual and epistemic clout to scientists? Share your thoughts in the comments–I welcome dialogue and I want to hear your opinion.
March 13th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
While I tend to side with science on most things, including the origions of humanity, I will give some concessions to the flaws on using the making statements on the existence of gods. Every one in science, including scientists, can only account for the ammount that they can prove and comprehend, while taking a great token of the rest, (the fields studied and established by colleagues, the hypothesis on which they base their studies), on faith. Mind you that I still give the studied people of science more of the benefit of the doubt than the Kent Hovins of the world, but there you go.
March 14th, 2008 at 9:52 am
Thanks for sharing, Davey Boy. I agree with a fair amount of what you said, including the last statement. Perhaps a comic strip about undereducated evangelicals using their clout in religious circles to pronounce on scientific issues they haven’t studied in any depth. Hmm, maybe Jay and this “Alyssa Anderson” person will collaborate on another strip at some point?
I’m curious what definition of “faith” you’re using when you speak of scientists taking their hypotheses and the findings of other established scientists on faith. In what sense are you using the word here? What does it mean to you in this context?
April 7th, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Sorry I did not respond, I have been away. You do deserve a responce, however. It may take a while for you to read this, but by faith, I mean that in the traditional sense, that to a degree, a scientist must account for the fact that he is not completely certain of all the scientific concepts he utilizes, that he is covering treaded ground by those who established these concepts.
April 9th, 2008 at 7:47 am
There we go. Thanks for getting back to me–I don’t mind the wait, and I appreciate your getting back to me. Given your definition of faith, I can certainly agree with you on that point. I’m reminded of Isaac Newton’s quotation: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”