2007-06-21 05:33:32 · 21 answers · asked by Quantrill 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Tell us what questions really matter and I will answer this question. What really matters to some people might be meaningless to somebody else. Science is a specialized discipline with a distinct set of rules. It can NOT answer all questions, such as the philosophical "why", but it can often answer the more pragmatic question of "how?". Science has limits - just like any other discipline.
2007-06-21 06:18:26 · answer #1 · answered by Paul Hxyz 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
As a Christian, I think science answers a lot of questions that really matter. I don't know about you, but I like the computers I use, the vehicles I ride, and the insights I've gained into the workings of the cosmos and the origins of life on Earth.
I think the mistake atheists make is the belief that all modes of gnosis (knowledge) must come from deductive reasoning, based on observation of non-abstract phenomena. Life is certainly about more than what can be discovered in the microscope or radio-telescope.
If life has meaning: what meaning does it have? There are some questions science wisely does not seek to speak to, and that is one of them.
2007-06-21 12:38:50 · answer #2 · answered by evolver 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Science is capable of answering some of the questions that really matter; perhaps most.
Religion, on the other hand is woefully incapable of providing many or even most of these answers. Even the question of what happens after we die cannot be answered by religion; the best that religion can do is to speculate, as nobody has returned to confirm or deny what religion postulates.
As there are many religions, and each claims something different, and as many are contradictory, one cannot rely on religion.
The advantage of science is that things are considered valid only when reproduced or observed by multiple researchers, over time. If religions might agree on the nature of afterlife, reincarnation, heaven, hell, salvation and such, they might have greater validity, but as they cannot agree, nor provide external substantiation, they cannot be relied on as factual.
This is not to dismiss the value of the spiritual, but only to say that what religion offers cannot be considered absolute truth.
2007-06-21 12:40:01 · answer #3 · answered by Deirdre H 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Many, many "questions" have been answered by science across the centuries; many, many more will be answered as our species evolves further; and many answered questions will give rise to many more questions. If the species survives a couple more thousand years...and it is 'iffy'...we primates will have become very different creatures--larger brains, for one thing. Live longer, perhaps far longer, and, I hope, I do fervently hope, 'think' and 'reason' with fewer primitive, antique ideas of gods and ghosts and demons and other playground nonsense. Science is 'us.' I do not expect all of you chaps to understand, but some will.
2007-06-21 12:45:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not at the moment - but that doesn't mean it won't eventually.
Two hundred years ago we knew very little about the way the body worked. Today we do.
You could argue that learning how the body worked and how medicines and chemicals affect it, is something that really matters.
Whilst we don't have the answers to the really really big questions right now, I'm sure we will one day.
2007-06-21 12:37:23 · answer #5 · answered by Adam L 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The short answer is: it depends on who gets to decide which questions are the ones that "really matter"...
And besides -- what answers do any of the organized religions have to offer, that aren't solely supported by hearsay and wishful thinking?
At least with science, you can trust the methodology, and verify or falsify the results yourself....
2007-06-21 12:35:49 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
That depends on what questions you think really matter.
If the questions that matter to you are 'how did the universe form'? or 'how did life evolve on Earth, how are we connected to that life'? - then science has the answer.
If the questions that matter to you are 'will i go to hell for eating bacon'? or 'will the skydude punish me for kissing someone with the same plumbing'? - then science probably isn't going to be a source for answers you want to hear.
2007-06-21 12:38:39 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Science is capable to answer all the things related to the nature and biology! that's it
2007-06-21 12:45:40 · answer #8 · answered by Not of This World Returns 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because we're physical beings, the hypotheses and answers to all possible question are filtered through those systems. The closer we get to understanding how that works, the higher the quality of answers we'll be able to achieve.
2007-06-21 13:10:19 · answer #9 · answered by The angels have the phone box. 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Yes, as far as our knowledge permits. We don't know many things. Questions that really matter is subjective and varies from person to person.
2007-06-21 12:37:28 · answer #10 · answered by Soul Shaper 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋