Does the modern, scientific outlook emcompass all there is to the world?

Question

Or are there other dimensions to reality that the scientific method cannot deal with? (for example, where do human values fit into your understanding of the world? Is there a place for and/or need for a god in your understanding of the world?)

If you believe there are features of our experience that science cannot completely explain, how do you account for these features and how does your account relate to the scientific worldview?

Answer 1

I think that Science Plus Religion might hold the key to all that we want to know as humans...the problem is defining what is crap and what is not. Most science is still flawed and most religions are incomplete but I do believe that between all that both have to offer the answers and or the outlook is with in that formula somewhere.

Answer 2

Science doesn't address everything about the human experience. It can give insight into a lot of things, and sometimes partly explain some things, but it's limited. When I think of its limits, I think of human emotions and beliefs. Science can offer data and theories about that, but it doesn't really do more than scratch the surface of much of the human experience. Who wonders about science when they're in the middle of a break-up, for instance? Some things in life are so pervasive and powerful that science seems almost insignificant in the face of them. For a lot of these things, science can calculate patterns (for instance, how often the average American experiences a break-up), but it can't help us deal with them.

I'm not an atheist persay--more of an agnostic, I guess--but I don't really feel there's a place for a god in the way I see the world around me. Science might not help me when I'm crying, but thinking about a god doesn't really either. So I just try to live life dealing with what I have in front of me and don't think a lot about whether or not there's a god, because there's no way of knowing for sure anyway (in my opinion).

Answer 3

Science should be a part of religion. Religion means it is not just praying during sundays or fridays alone. Religion should control our every moment of life. Even how we walk on road, how we deal with people etc. Every aspect is dealt with in religion. Even in today's science we have so many assumptions. Without faith in the unseen things, today's science is meaningless. In Mathematics, we say Limit tends to Infinity to solve so many real time problems. What is this Infinity? Human mind cant preceive this. Next in Physics, in Material Science, we assume a smallest wave particle called "Photon" which dont have any proof of existence physically, then only we proceed with atomic physics. Without such assumption & faith, physics is meaningless. We measure distance in light years. Today the edge of our universe is 4 billion light years away from us. We cant even imagine 1 light year. So likewise we have so many things which we cant reason out. But we have to stop at some point with faith in it. Otherwise we will hit the wall and damage our head. Human mind is given with the 6th sense. We see, hear, feel, smell something but using the 6th sense we infer some results from such things. When we see a smoke at a distance we know there is fire. We believe this without seeing the fire. Like wise we have so many wonders around us, within our body which should make us to feel the presence of an omni-potent power. Within our science only we have so many faiths & beliefs, how can we prove God who is considered above all such things. We cant even imagine 1/1000th of a millimeter, but we cure the disease caused by a bacteria which is beyond our imagination. We cant even imagine 1 light year but we use our computers to calculate that the universe is 4 billion light years away from earth. This itself is a proof that the Almighty God exists above all these things.

Answer 4

I feel that it has to a great extent but there is actually no end or limit .
If we look at the science of sub atomic field of science then we will see that they are able to encompass the point of human feelings as well as the concept of god ( Not actually God)
the problem initially was that we were trying to co relate everything with our senses, We corrected it in time. there are many mind exercises that are very enlightening

Answer 5

No worldview is without it's areas of "I don't know." Science, however, has proven time and again to be the most effective way of explaining the world.

As for human values and morals, yes... there is a natural explanation for that. Research memetics, social contracts, and have a look at the prisoner's dilemma.

No, there is no need for a god in my understanding of the world.

Answer 6

All science is discovery on invention. God reveals what he wants known.The insistence of proof is a sin of pride. Remember the World used to be Flat and the Sun revolved around the Earth.

Answer 7

As far advanced as science seems to be, I don't think science has even come close to answering some of life's most important questions: Why are we here, is there a God, What is the meaning of life, how did everything get here, how can something have no beginning or no end?

Answer 8

Science confirms the Bible more every day.

The real question is not if there is a place for God in my world, but is there a place for us in God's world!

Puny humans! Proposing to think that we have the right, or even that we can, put God under a microscope and examine him, dissect him, judge him! Who do we think we are? It is God who examines us and finds us wanting! It is God who is our judge, not the other way around!

God's ways are past us finding them out by our own inspection. Fortunately, he is big enough, fully capable, and quite willing to reveal himself to us, if we really want to know him. His word tells us exactly how. Check out the gospel of John, particularly the third chapter. I especially like the words written in red.

And, not to worry. God definitely wants to have to do with us. He sent Jesus specifically to be our go-between, and to become our best friend. I invite you to make him yours, as he is mine. Come on in, the water's fine!

Answer 9

Of course science can not explain everything. Science change with each new discovery and many things still remain a mystery.

Answer 10

Thus far, science has been the only effective means we've found to EXPLAIN any phenomena in the world. That doesn't mean that it "encompasses everything"; it doesn't encompass non-descriptive areas, such as prescriptive ethics and art.

So, science can account for and explain ethics (e.g., where they come from, what their nature is, etc.), but it can't generate normative statements like "Thou shalt not kill". That's simply outside of its scope, and asking it to is misunderstanding what science is, as surely as asking science to make you a milkshake or to write poetry would be.