I was just reading this article and of course my previous post came to mind. It must be a little more common than I thought, but in general, my dealings with archaeologists, astronomers, mathematicians, and others associated with higher level sciences has left me with the impression that they're a humanistic, godless bunch. As much as I respect highly educated people, this doesn't affect my own beliefs, (as they are firmly rooted in personal experience) but I do find it interesting that there's so much variation in the opinions of God's existence. This reflects the variation in individuals' personalities, experiences, and further proves to me that there's a big difference between knowledge and wisdom.
4 comments:
Not at all. Maybe that's what you wanted to hear. Perhaps you've had some background exposure to religion (Christianity probably) and so you automatically assumed that I was implying some of the things referenced in the book of Proverbs. That was not the intent at all. I was merely commenting on the diversity of humanity. What constitutes true wisdom is purely subjective, but I personally believe that it transcends intellectualism and experience. Then again, from a philosophical perspective, I'm more of a rationalist than an empiricist. Thanks for your thoughts.
Ben,
Any thoughts on some of the new directions in Modern Cosmology?
It seems that the more we find out from Science, the more we also find out how much we don't know, or how hard it is for our peewee human brains to wrap themselves around the complexities involved.
Cosmology tries to leap ahead of the current Science, and tries to find and make sense of the "big picture," using human intellect and intuition combined with cutting-edge Physical theory.
This field of study is where humans tend to out-perform machines and equations, and it helps move the Physical sciences forward...eventually. But performing the Machiavellian minutia of getting an actual theory put together takes teamwork. There seems to be very, very few humans that can take in the whole thing and understand the theories involved in their entirety. Perhaps some of these individuals "transcend intellectualism and experience," (at least in Physics).
John Barrow, the Cosmologist (in the article), hopefully can use the prize he gained from this group to further Science and our understanding of the universe/multiverse.
I have a thing in common with John Barrow. It's the thinking that the more we know about the intricacies of the universe (or multiverses), increases my own personal sense of spiritual wonder. That is one of the reasons why simplistic religiosity and simplistic thinking in general, pisses me off to no end.
One man's complexity is another man's simplicity. As I mention in my profile, I (like you) truely abhor a total lack of intellectual curiosity. Know what you believe, but more importantly, know WHY you believe it!
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