Truth

I’ve started reading The Structure of Scientific Revolutions again. Its been almost exactly four years since I’ve read it.

In the second chapter Kuhn expounds upon Paradigm shifts. In that while “science” as we know it is characterized by agreement on most issues by scientists, (Yes there are arguments but the vast amount of scientific knowledge is mutually agreed upon by scientists.) it previously before the adaptation of paradigms was characterized by competing schools of thought that have since died out.

I think that this view could also apply to “desire management schools of thought” (i.e. Religions, and certain strains of philosophy.) While religions cover more area than just desire management. christian Science covers health and well being, Judaism covers dietary matters, Islam covers dietary and social relations, Buddhism covers lots of desires, Hinduism gets as detailed as to describing the proper way to take a crap, Unitarian Universlism has a very limited doctrine focusing on self-determined beliefs.

But are these all just compelling schools of thought that will eventually be replaced by a universal and bullet proof paradigm?

What I find frustrating about all of these is they are not fully explanatory or even attempt to be.

Ask a scientist to explain how Christian Scientist faith healing works and they’ll either be dumbfounded or claim it is a hoax.

Ask a devout creationist to explain the dinosaurs and why all animals share DNA and fossils in general, they’ll provide theories that place man and dinosaurs walking side by side which would’ve resulted in oral history.

(A side note if you accept as an Axiom that god exists and is an omnipresent and omniscient being the logic behind “god told me” or “because god made it that way” is impeccable.)

Ultimately Religion, Philosophy, and Science are all about finding the truth. None of them are the truth fully, but they all contain parts of the truth. Until we stop or at least drastically slow down the nasty war of beliefs that are being fought all over, it will be hard to get all these people together to find the truth.

This is why Contact is one of my favorite books/movies, is that it deals with this religion/science divide. Perhaps though as Carl Sagan hints at, they shouldn’t be divided.