A Question for believers of science?

Question

I understand the fact that you think this world is created by science. Not a higher being. And I truely respect that.

But something still keeps me wondering. Many scientific facts weren't discovered untill later on in life. Before people had the technology to discover... What did people believe in... before knowing that science was the creation of this world..Back in the old days when people were still people with practically the same minds that we have today. Who also thought... but didnt have the ability to answer questions because they didn't have the technology..

You understand my question?

Answer 1

God created science ;)

Answer 2

I kinda understand your question. The world wasn't created by science. Science is the method we use to discover what is true about the world. You are correct to say that we know more now than we ever did. Many great minds from the past have come up with some crazy notions, but only because they didn't have the technology.

You see people used to sit and wonder what those lights in the night sky were. They wondered why the sun disappeared and where it went.

So they made up stories. Some of these stories became the basis for religion. The people thought that the gods wanted this or the gods wanted that. So they built temples and made offering and made the priests rich.

Our ideas about the higher beings have changed since then, but more importantly we know more now. We don't wonder about the stars, we KNOW. We know how the universe was formed and where we all came from. We're even learning why people act the way they do.

So you see, the more you educate yourself the less likely you are to believe in superstitious answers.

Answer 3

People have something called an IQ. They used this IQ, and created knowledge. This knowledge stacked up on top of more knowledge, and at this point of time it's so complex that you can't even dream about knowing it all. That knowledge is what you call, science. Plus nobody actually knows weather if or not there is a creator we often call God. I think there should be, since nothing is ever there without somebody putting it there, namely the universe and everything in it. But this God does most definitely not fit in any religious descriptions. Why ? Because it makes no sense (illogical), and never fits with any real observations. And as you may detect, the entire planet and the universe is built in a way that is extremely logical. So logical, that the brightest of us all can't quite grasp it.

Hope this clarified your question.

Answer 4

I do not 'believe' in science. I trust in science.

It may seem a subtle difference but it is an important one.

Just like I do not have to 'believe' that the sun will rise tomorrow, but I trust that it will. The modern scientific process has shown itself to be trustworthy. It is not infallible, but it is self-correcting and has shown that it is capable of getting closer and closer to the actual reality of the universe.


People believed then what people believe now. There are gaps in our knowledge now, just as there was 200 years ago. People still try to fill those gaps with the inexplicable just as they did then. A god of the gaps. The only difference is that the gaps now are much smaller than they were.

Then as now others refuse to speculate as to what lies in these gaps. We are people for whom the answer "I do not know" is acceptable, at least for today. We do not believe. We look to find what is in the gaps by the only method that has been found to be reliable - the scientific method.


The other difference between then and now is that it has become more acceptable to not believe. While the masses still rate liars an cheats higher than atheists, we no longer get tortured and murdered for our open minded lack of belief. In the past many had to lie and profess a belief just to be accepted by society.

Answer 5

They made sense of the world as best they could, and started speaking of powerful Creators that were watching them from above, sometimes inflicting powerful disasters upon them. Believing that lightning was a direct punishment from the Lord of Thunder made more sense to them, since they didn't know about electricity.

So, obviously, people believed back then, as many still do, in a higher being. Most people today tend to believe in a much less directly involved higher being, though; usually when lightning strikes, we're not arguing over who misbehaved. But bear in mind, this is still precisely what some Christian leaders in the U.S. were saying after 9/11 and Katrina: God was punishing America. This is a primitive man's belief.

Answer 6

Historically when an event or question came up and technology of the day was unable to answer the question a deity, fairy, goblin, ghoul or other mythological being was created and blamed for whatever happened..

For instance before we understood how ocean waves and other ocean events occurred Poseidon was created and blamed for all occurrences at sea..

Illnesses we know about today such as epilepsy were thought to be demonic or other evil spirit posession..

The list goes on and on... When an explaination couldn't be found it must be a deity, demi-god, or evil spirit causing the problem/event.. Religion, folklore stories, and fairy tales were the method by which the mythical explaination was spread..

Answer 7

Are you asking "How could people be atheists before modern science provided the basis for it?"

If so, you should read the famous atheists of the past. Mostly you'll find they didn't dwell on how such matters actually worked - they simply recognised the serious flaws in the Biblical account.

It makes fascinating reading: a French priest who lived a blameless life, giving all he had to the poor, and bravely standing up to immoral and powerful people, wrote a wonderful treatise, only discovered after his death, which essentially disproves the fundamental tenets of Christianity using logic and philosophy alone.

Voltaire (a contemporary) used superb sarcasm for the same purpose. His was the line 'If God didn't exist, it would be necessary for Man to invent Him'. He meant, of course, that He didn't, and Man had.

CD

Answer 8

Science did not create the world. Science is the study of phenomena. It is investigation. People who did not have the base of knowledge that we have felt the need to explain the world and so came up with answers based on the idea of some kind of creator. These concepts differed depending on where the religion sprang up. People still cling to old beliefs as they feel secure with the idea. There seems to be the idea that everyone in the world holds either Christian or Muslim beliefs, but there are many other belief systems that are radically different.

Answer 9

People have always tried to figure out among other things the origin of all that exists; people have used their mind, reason, imagination, inspiration, spirit, heart... before science there was no proof of some assumptions that could be made about the origin of things, even today science can not solve every single detail about the origin of things. Assumptions that could not be proved but that involved a God have been named dogmas or matters of faith... that was what people believed in and still do.
In the end since none of us is a scientist that can master in himself all science, we have faith on the science made before us.... so another belief, no better, no worst.

Answer 10

The world wasn't "created by science". Science is an attempt based on rational thought and evidence to explain the natural world with natural causes and effects.

You could say that people have always tried to explain the world. Many of their explanations were wrong but they might have been the best that they could come up with at the time.

Answer 11

One of the largest obstacles in history has been the repression and censorship of anyone who came up with ideas that the Church or religion in charge didn't agree with. However, now that we live in a much more free society people are allowed to present and believe in different ideas.

Another reason for the recent diversion from religion has been the exponential growth of science and technology in the last 100 years. That has revealed a lot.