To: Sam Ferguson who wrote (26952 ) 12/13/1998 2:09:00 PM From: epicure Read Replies (1) | Respond to
But that does not mean it couldn't be otherwise. I like science. I hold a degree in biology. At some point, though, even science requires belief. For example, one must believe in the truthfullness of the senses of the scientific observer and in the capabilities of the scientific instrument. One must have some faith that what appears logical is logical. I am merely arguing that there is very little that does not take some element of belief- but I also argue that there is belief with a little "b" and belief with a big "B". When I go to bed at night I expect the sun to rise in the morning. In fact I would go so far as to say I "believe" it will- but that does NOT mean things could not be otherwise. From one minute to the next I generally "believe" I will go on living but that does not mean, between one second and the next, that I will not die. It is merely that my experience in life leads me to believe the things that repetition has rendered so constant. That is belief in the little "b" sense. Science is also concerned with the repetition of events- and by the repetition and reproducibility of experiments certain things are presumed to be true(or at least not false). Science is in my opinion of the little "b" faith- for most real scientists will only except an hypothesis until it is proved false. They do not, in general, have an emotional commitment to the hypothesis.
