Row and Bee

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Scientific Methodology

Kilre

on Oct. 13, 2009

There is a point that many people seem to miss when they mischaracterize atheists and attempt to downplay the importance of science–even as they preach their ignorance from behind high-tech computers and microphones made with the same scientific method that proves nigh daily the truth of evolution.

Science is as far from religion as you can get. You must assume that you know nothing until after you've seen the evidence from various rigorous tests done to see what happens when you ask a question about how the world, or the universe, works.

Let's say, "how did all the living forms on Earth come to be as they are today?" Sounds like a great starting point for testing how organism change over time. The problem, though, arises after you've done the initial testing and come up with a conclusion. At this point, you don't rest on your laurels and think "ah, I've come up with a satisfying answer, I think I'll just leave it at that." Far from it: you're still wrong, and still have to test more to make sure that the conclusion you arrived at can still be supported.

You're not alone in this testing, though. All around the world, the moment you publish a conclusion to any sort of testing, are the other scientists that are both out to show you wrong and want to see if your conclusions can be reproduced. Others don't know you are right or wrong until they've done their own research and found out for themselves.

Science is not a religion. Science is merely the logical conclusion to asking "why?".

However, saying that this is tantamount to religion is just setting up for a straw man. Religion, not even in general but in principle, accept the existence of many things that have no reliable way to test, and instead of remaining skeptical and waiting for evidence to come in and allow for further testing to reach a conclusion, instead believers start with what they can't prove definitively and extrapolate out from there.

Such a shaky start would never hold up in the scientific arena. In fact, it doesn't, and those that wish fervently to inject religion into science are constantly confounded when their faith fails to hold up under repeated scrutiny.