Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!dimacs.rutgers.edu!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: tblake@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Thomas Blake) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Re: Why believe? Message-ID: Date: 9 Mar 91 05:58:20 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: State University of New York at Binghamton Lines: 77 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu In article henning@acsu.buffalo.edu (Karl resort Henning) writes: >Heaven and god, e.g., are neither within verifiable experience, nor >(IMHO) reasonable extrapolations of verifiable experience. They >neither compel [my] belief, nor serve [me] a useful purpose. All this talk about proving the existance of God/heaven/faith reminds me of a conversation I had with one of our researchers here a while ago. I have consulted with her a number of times, (my job here involves a great deal of consulting with faculty/researchers), but hadn't seen her for a while. When I saw her on a transit bus I asked her what she was up to and why we hadn't seen her over at the computer center. She said that she had been performing a number of experiments, and that she would be over to see us in a while. I asked about the research she was doing, and found her descriptions fascinating. Seeing my enthusiasm she was kind enough to invite me over to her lab so I could see for myself the setup, and a demonstration so I could better understand her procedures. ("Ultra-Sonic LASER Spectroscopy" I believe was the phrase). You can understand my confusion, what does Ultra-Sonic have to do with LASERs? Trust me, it all makes sense. In a few hours, she showed what she was up to, and in response to my questions explained a lot of theoretical physics which I have read about, but never quite gotten a handle on. When we were done, we stood in the hall talking about the various hierarchies of matter. And as we got small enough, I said "and beyond that lies the realm of black magic", (I was referring to quantum physics). She lauged, and said, "You know, people say to me, 'You're a scientist! how can you believe in God?'. I ask them, 'Do you believe in electrons?' 'Have you ever seen an electron?'" To be honest, noone has seen an electron. We have seen evidence that seems to support the theory that electrons exist. Her reply: "What if I tell you I see evidence of God all around? What if I tell you I can see God in your eyes?" Now, I've played with electricity. I did experiments in school. I never came close to proving the existance of electrons. Basically, a lot of people I trusted _told_ me there were electrons, and I choose to believe them. None of them ever proved the existance of electrons either, some of them had done experiments, the results of which can be partially explained by the existance of "electrons". Now, I can't prove to you that God exists. I can, (like my physicist friend), tell you I have seen evidence that God exists. Much of my thinking about God comes from the fact that a lot of people who I trust told me that there was a God. So, one can say that people faced with a world full of things they don't understand postulate the existance of a diety or dieties in an effort to try to make sense of their surroundings. If I postulate the existance of a diety, and find supporting evidence, is my belief in the diety any more irrational than my belief in electrons? We'll be using the theory that electrons exist up until the time when a better working theory comes along, (and a while after, better working is a matter of opinion), and even if we discard the theory of electrons, we will only discard it for a new theory, (not provable fact only theory). Neuton postulated his theories about gravity, Einstein refined them, now I hear a couple of chaps up at Cornell have found a flaw in relativety, so another refinement may be just down the road. Has reality changed? No, just our theories, based upon our observations and our imaginations in an effort to make sense of reality as we perceive it. I find no evidence in the limited science I know to refute the existance of a diety. There is evidence to suggest that some biblical accounts as we understand them may be in error. Still, even of this, there is no proof. (*Sigh*) but I ramble on... You get the idea. Tom Blake SUNY-Binghamton