Relentless Inquiry

A mailing list I've been on for years is in the throes of the science vs faith/religion thing again. Oy.

The science-oriented person believes in evolution because he or she sees proof of its actions on the world, historically and on an ongoing basis.

The faith-oriented person believes in $deity for the same reasons.

What the faith-oriented person takes as miraculous, the science-oriented person explains via laws of probability and physics.

Why can't the universe be both, just the way light acts in some ways as a particle and in some ways as a wave?

I really don't understand why it's so important to so many people to invalidate the other viewpoint, either science or faith, and insist that the world is only one way.

There are plenty of sci-fi/fantasy stories where there is a real $deity who created a frame, something $evil got into it accidentally, and $deity can't reach in directly to remove $evil or $deity will break the frame and end the universe as the protagonists know it. That's one possible model for the elegance of the physical laws, including evolution, and the existence of a compassionate $deity.

I mean, c'mon, what kind of $deity would set up a universe full of physics and biology and then freeze it?! Why can't evolution be a divine mechanism for emergent behavior on the part of a really rockin' creation?

And if there is no $deity, wouldn't the ultimate evolution be to create one? So there will be one eventually, if the universe goes on long enough and sentients master spacetime physics as well as biology and consciousness. Remember AC Clarke, and his technology indistinguishable from magic?

So, I ask both the science and the faith oriented folks, what would it mean TO YOU PERSONALLY if the other viewpoint were true? For the faith folks, if there were no $deity. For the science folks, if science were true but the rules had been set up by a $deity.

I suspect here is where we'll get to the heart of why some folks are so passionate about their leanings. Because the thought of a universe that works differently is so deeply negative and/or scary to them that they MUST believe the universe matches their preference. Others may simply find that they function better and/or are happier with a certain belief. Still others don't care all that much but can't let anyone else be 'right', so they frame it as either-or, instead of inclusive.

(dusts off hands) That oughta hold 'em for a while.