Writer's Block: Proven by Science

[vovat]

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Wouldn't it pretty much have to? If science is "[t]he investigation of natural phenomena through observation, theoretical explanation, and experimentation, or the knowledge produced by such investigation," then any rational explanation is a scientific explanation, right? When people believe there are things that science can't explain, that suggests to me that they don't think there IS an explanation for them. As much as people talk about faith, it seems like belief in God or another supernatural being generally occurs because the believer thinks there IS evidence of such an entity, not because there isn't. Now, that's not to say that science has explained everything YET, or even that it ever will, but is there any way we can know ANYTHING except through observation and experimentation? Just because we don't understand something doesn't mean there isn't an explanation for it. But why listen to me? I know nothing.

Comments

[suegypt.livejournal.com]

Do you believe everything has a scientific explanation?

No.

Why do my parents love me?

Why do I like rainy days?

Why do i prefer chocolate to vanilla?

Why do some people not trust their own minds, and prefer to have others think for them?

What is this thing called love???

Why do birds suddenly appear every time you are near???????

As much as people talk about faith, it seems like belief in God or another supernatural being generally occurs because the believer thinks there IS evidence of such an entity, not because there isn't.

You don't believe in God, am i right? Why do you think you know why people do believe?

I personally believe in God not because I've seen scientific evidence of the presence of God: I believe in God because of the way I perceive the world and everything in it, physical and metaphysical. Belief has to have some sort of evidence to prop it up; faith does not. My faith explains something to me, but it's certainly not something that can be measured or tested. It's felt and pondered.

is there any way we can know ANYTHING except through observation and experimentation?

You can know all sorts of things without being able to vet or prove anything related to it. You can know you love your wife, for an example, but you might not be able to prove it, to her or yourself, in any concrete, empirical manner. Being nice to her, staying "faithful" to her, these aren't scientific proof of anything but that you have made a choice to behave a certain way. She has to take your love "on faith."

So, yeah, not only do I not believe everything has a scientific explanation, I believe there's tons of stuff in this life that has no explanation at all.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

On the contrary, faith is all about believing in something *despite* their being no evidence, rather than assuming there must be some evidence, somewhere. The faithful don't look for an explanation; they just accept.

That could be good or bad! Me, I'm always fascinated by scientific attempts to uncover and explain -- I believe the pursuit of knowledge is one of the finest aspects of humanity.

[poisonyoulove.livejournal.com]

I agree with you. I think everything is science. The things we don't understand just haven't been figured out yet. People used to think the earth was flat until it was proven not to be. All the things people have superstitions about will someday be figured out.

Take ghosts for example . . . it's fairly cliche to hear a story that someone feels like they're being watched when they go in a room or they see a shadow out of the corner of their eye. People had no explanation for those feelings until it was figured out that high EMF fields, like from electrical boxes or bad wiring, cause paranoia and hallucinations! YAY, science! :D

[bec-87rb.livejournal.com]

any rational explanation is a scientific explanation, right?

I'm afraid I have to disagree on that one, buddy. There are lots of rational explanations which have nothing to do with science, per se.