Bizarre Weather

Gig 601XL Builder wrote in
:

Stefan wrote:
Gig 601XL Builder schrieb:

Do you believe in gravity? That's a Scientific Theory. There are many
here that seem to confusing the scientific meaning of the word with
the common usage.

Sometimes it really would help to read the history of a debate and get
the context prior to respond.

I have read this thread and to raise to the level where I would consider
it a debate would take a crane.

What it is, is a few people putting forth the idea that it requires a
leap of faith to believe a scientific theory that is equal to the leap
of faith required to believe in a religion. I personally think that is
an insult to both scientific theory and religion.

It's an insult to the little letters that make up the words!

Bertie

Gig 601XL Builder wrote in news:13qejr8s4vbdn60
@news.supernews.com:

Stefan wrote:
Dan Luke schrieb:

Wikipedia: An oxymoron ...

Wikipedia, the definitive authoritative source. But thanks, I *do* know
what an oxymoron is: e.g. "those who believe in scientific theory" is one.


Do you believe in gravity? That's a Scientific Theory. There are many
here that seem to confusing the scientific meaning of the word with the
common usage.

Do you believe that there is a reason that two bodies attract one another? Or
is it simply enough to believe that they do?

Judah wrote in
:

Gig 601XL Builder wrote in
news:13qejr8s4vbdn60 @news.supernews.com:

Stefan wrote:
Dan Luke schrieb:

Wikipedia: An oxymoron ...

Wikipedia, the definitive authoritative source. But thanks, I *do*
know what an oxymoron is: e.g. "those who believe in scientific
theory" is one.


Do you believe in gravity? That's a Scientific Theory. There are many
here that seem to confusing the scientific meaning of the word with
the common usage.

Do you believe that there is a reason that two bodies attract one
another? Or is it simply enough to believe that they do?


Well, it has been said that if you trip and forget to fall you will fly...

Therefore gravity must be a belief.

Bertie

"Dan Luke" wrote in
:


"Judah" wrote:
What does "oxymoron of the typical scientific theory" mean?

That's like asking "What is 1 + "?

So it's meaningless.

Thought so.


Correct. If you don't complete the sentence, the result is your failure
to comprehend.

"I was just pointing out the oxymoron of the typical scientific theory
and those who believe in them."

In the interest of moving this along, I will guess at your fuzzy
parsing and peculiar definition of "oxymoron", and assume you are making
a coy attempt to equate scientific conviction with religious faith.

Is that about it?

Go ahead and use a dictionary and thesaurus if you need to; it's not
cheating.


Since you brought it up, I looked on dictionary.com :

con·vic·tion –noun 1. a fixed or firm belief.

faith -noun 1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness
of a person, idea, or thing.


Perhaps you meant, "scientific faith and religious conviction."

"Judah" wrote:

In the interest of moving this along, I will guess at your fuzzy
parsing and peculiar definition of "oxymoron", and assume you are making
a coy attempt to equate scientific conviction with religious faith.

Is that about it?

Go ahead and use a dictionary and thesaurus if you need to; it's not
cheating.


Since you brought it up, I looked on dictionary.com :

con·vic·tion –noun 1. a fixed or firm belief.

faith -noun 1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness
of a person, idea, or thing.


Perhaps you meant, "scientific faith and religious conviction."

No. I am attempting to entice you into making a definitive statement
explaining what your point is.

Up to now, you've provided word salad and evasions.

It seems you realize you don't know what you're talking about WRT science and
belief. Looks like you're resorting to being coy so you won't be caught out.

But I could be wrong. Perhaps you really do have a cogent idea discuss.
Seems unlikely, but why don't you try again?

Take your time. I can wait.

--
Dan

"Don't make me nervous when I'm carryin' a baseball bat."
- Big Joe Turner

Judah wrote in
:

"Dan Luke" wrote in
:


"Judah" wrote:
What does "oxymoron of the typical scientific theory" mean?

That's like asking "What is 1 + "?

So it's meaningless.

Thought so.


Correct. If you don't complete the sentence, the result is your
failure to comprehend.

"I was just pointing out the oxymoron of the typical scientific
theory and those who believe in them."

In the interest of moving this along, I will guess at your fuzzy
parsing and peculiar definition of "oxymoron", and assume you are
making a coy attempt to equate scientific conviction with religious
faith.

Is that about it?

Go ahead and use a dictionary and thesaurus if you need to; it's not
cheating.


Since you brought it up, I looked on dictionary.com :

con·vic·tion –noun 1. a fixed or firm belief.

faith -noun 1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or
trustworthiness
of a person, idea, or thing.


Perhaps you meant, "scientific faith and religious conviction."


POerhaps he meant science and bull****.

Bertie

On 2008-02-03, Judah wrote:
The oxymoron is not "scientific theory". The oxymoron is the BELIEF in
scientific theory.

The joke is that people like yourself will happily believe in a scientific
theory based on something they read in one book, but refuse to believe in a
religious theory based on something they read in another.

Well, you just sort of proved you really don't understand what the
scientific method is, or indeed what a scientific theory is, and you
also made a false assumption about me.

A hint. Scientific theories aren't something you believe in. In fact,
the scientific method spends most of its time trying not to "believe"
theories, but instead disprove them. A big part of a scientist's job is
to poke holes in theories.

--
From the sunny Isle of Man.
Yes, the Reply-To email address is valid.

Judah wrote:
Gig 601XL Builder wrote in news:13qejr8s4vbdn60
@news.supernews.com:

Stefan wrote:
Dan Luke schrieb:

Wikipedia: An oxymoron ...
Wikipedia, the definitive authoritative source. But thanks, I *do* know
what an oxymoron is: e.g. "those who believe in scientific theory" is one.

Do you believe in gravity? That's a Scientific Theory. There are many
here that seem to confusing the scientific meaning of the word with the
common usage.

Do you believe that there is a reason that two bodies attract one another? Or
is it simply enough to believe that they do?

Yes I do believe there is a reason and that reason is explained by a
scientific theory.

Dylan Smith wrote in
:

Well, you just sort of proved you really don't understand what the
scientific method is, or indeed what a scientific theory is, and you
also made a false assumption about me.

A hint. Scientific theories aren't something you believe in. In fact,
the scientific method spends most of its time trying not to "believe"
theories, but instead disprove them. A big part of a scientist's job is
to poke holes in theories.

We've spent way too much time arguing about semantics.

Science is based on empirical evidence. But most science is based on
studies that were performed by someone else, in some lab with very
specifically managed conditions that often cannot be duplicated by you or I
in our homes.

The results of an experiment might be documented in some journal or
textbook, but at the end of the day, because the typical layman cannot
really duplicate the environment, there is an element of faith that the
experiment and related controls were not corrupted by some unseen element.

As you yourself have said, in many cases scientific theories are disproven,
even after they have been "proven" using experiments with controls, etc.
This can happen for any number of reasons - bad assumptions, lack of
control of variables that were perceived to be irrelevant to the
experiment, or even bias on the part of the experimenter.

The bottom line is that while some science is certainly observable by the
layman and therefore perhaps indisputable, other science is founded in an
element of faith or trust in the people who have performed the experiments
and provided the results.

To religious people, there are empirical, observable situations that lend
themselves to a theory that the "natural order of things" is controlled by
something other than randomness. Some people call this "God". Personally,
I'm not sure that the visions evoked in most people by the word "God" are
accurate, but I do believe that it is likely that things like evolution,
gravity, childbirth, Shakespeare, etc. all happen as a result of something
other than randomness, even if the mechanisms can often be duplicated in a
lab.

Most people either believe that the world is governed by Science or God,
and take very adverse positions against anyone who might believe the two
can co-exist. But the bottom line is that ultimately, any time you put your
trust in something that you've been told, other than having observed it
personally, it requires a little bit of faith...

Gig 601XL Builder wrote in
:

Yes I do believe there is a reason and that reason is explained by a
scientific theory.

Exactly.