Can a scientific fact transform into a belief? Why yes and why not?

Question

I would say yes. Support your answers with examples. What is the one word thing that can help you distinguish between a fact and a belief? Knowledge is not enough.

And if you say yes, do the hardliners of Science have the right to blame religious people for their beliefs that are not supported by science?

Don Printninja AM (east coast), Pluto was supported with evidence for so many years for being a planet then one day came where the astrologists just changed the whole criteria for calling a planet. What about it? it was factual all the time, and what is the word that can help us distinguish between a fact and a belief?

Give examples please.

Muffie, you got some nice points to argue, however that is not the word "Scientific method" can't help in distinguishing fact and belief.

And please argue my example of Pluto, it was a scientific fact, it was not a theory that Pluto was a planet!

cosmo, what is the definition of objective truth?

endurokart, the example you given is so true but all the people agree on it. It is so obvious that Carbon Monoxide is lethal.

However if we want to speak about medical facts, Hormone therapy was recommended for decades for postmenopausal women supported by proof and evidence as much as you want. It was a well known medical fact that it is essential for postmenopausal women (no theory in medication). New studies prohibit such recommendations. So our medical fact has been nulled after decades.

The resume people is our knowledge is so low, and if you think we are so much developed, then wake up LOL. Our studies have many pores in them, we must close these pores. BTW, nobody told me what is this word I asked about?

Jack what can help you distinguish between a fact and a common belief?

I suppose many of you thought of me to be christian or religious! Well I'm Atheist that considers himself non-fanatic against religion and objective.

Answer 1

Yes.

Einstein's Theory of Relativity expanded faith into scientific terms as had never been done before. There is that phenomenon of "Einsteinian Spirituality" which is an embrace of the interrelatedness of space and time in terms of a universal view that qualifies for the adjective "spiritual".

It allows for persons who might be thought of as odd candidates for spirituality the spiritual dimension; Atheists such as myself, for instance. This is not the only category of spirituality for such persons, however, but it is a remarkably compelling one.

On Facts and beliefs:

Einstein's Theory of Relativity is proven fact; the spiritual dimension of it is an expansion of faith(belief). Where matters of the spiritual are concerned, faith is always the catalyst and motivator. Faith requires no facts, but is complemented and leavened by such established facts as Einstein's theory.

Ultimately, however, things spiritual require faith, not fact.

Answer 2

A science fact (ignoring an existentialist philosophical arguments) is more of what we would call an "observation" or the result of an experiment. A fact: the Earth is spherical. Where scientific "belief" comes in isn't at "fact" but at "theory." Theory is one of those words that means something very different to scientific type people than it does to non-scientific type people. In non-scientific worlds, "theory" is another word for "best guess" or "conjecture." In the science arena, theory is an explanation based on the analysis of observation/experimentation. Yes, it's "conjecture," but it doesn't mean that someone's just guessing what it all means. Theory is the result of a lot of actual work with facts. An accepted theory is one that has been independently tested and has proven to be the most correct explanation for events. One of the problems that people who don't use the scientific meaning of "theory" has with science theory is that they expect that a "theory" is a "proven fact" once it's been tested and is, therefore, no longer a theory. The truth is that theory is always theory because of the simple fact that it's impossible to test every single instance of every single application of the theory from the beginning (assuming there is one) to the ending (also assuming there is one) of time. However, when one tries to work scientifically, an accepted theory (such as Newton's Theory of Gravity which has since been disproved, by the way), is as close as we get to "theoretical fact." Science type people acknowledge that theories change as knew data is acquired. For example, in evolutionary theory, we no longer believe that modern man is the descendant of the neanderthal and we need to find the infamous "missing link." Evolutionary theory on the origins of man hasn't altered, but some of the ideas have.

So the answer to your question is yes. Scientific fact, simply by being what it is, transforms scientific belief all the time. The one word thing that helps me distinguish the difference between fact and belief is the scientific method.

Everyone has the right to blame anyone else for whatever they want to, doesn't make it right. Science type people can "blame" (if by blame you mean make fun of, disregard, claim falsehood, or whatever negation you can list) religious type people for beliefs that are not supported by science because if a belief fails the scientific method, then quite simply, it's proven wrong. Bishop Ussher claimed the Earth was created about 7,000 years ago. Dating methods have proven that things older than 7,000 years exist. Therefore, Bishop Ussher's claim has been disproven. Continuing to believe it to be true is, well, ridiculous.

Answer 3

A belief is a mental activity.

A fact is an aspect of reality, whatever that means.

You can believe a fact or not, but that does not affect its objective truth.

You seem to have a rather odd views about the scientific process as a method of understanding the world.

Science is a method for discovering truths about the world. One aspect of scientific truth is that it is always contingent upon new observations and experiments. A scientific idea can never be wholly proved, although some scientific ideas are supported by such vast bodies of observation and experiment that their complete overturn seems highly unlikely.

The choice of Pluto as an example is interesting. The exclusion of Pluto from the class of planets resulted from a change in definition of the word "planet". In recent decades, many facts have been learned about new planets, including many outside the Solar System and new bodies far out in our Solar System that seem to be significantly different from planets. This change resulted in Pluto being re-classified as a "Dwarf Planet"---a new category of object, with several newly-discovered objects also in that category. This change did not, of course, change any objective facts about Pluto, it simply changed the language associated with that object.

Answer 4

It is a scientific fact that I need to breathe a precise mixture of elements in order to survive. This is true whether or not I choose to believe it. Beliefs are true when your belief, statement or thought correspond to reality or "the facts"
I might believe that I could breathe carbon monoxide, but my belief would be untrue

Justification might be the one thing you are looking for although even justified true beliefs can be false if the justification is improperly grounded in reality.

It would depend on your definition of science and what you mean by religious people on whether or not the hardliners have a legitimate complaint. Non-empirical knowledge is demonstrable. Check out J.P Moreland's work on the topic..

Answer 5

Yes, but if supported by evidence, it will still be factual even if people don't understand the science.

EDIT:
Science does not claim to be infallible. Quite the opposite. Science is happy to recant if the evidence is found to be fabricated or false, in which case most people of science will abandon their belief in the fact. Since religions claim to be infallible, when they're proven incorrect (as they so often are), those who follow them find themselves in rather embarrassing situations.

Regarding Pluto... planet or asteroid, the evidence remains. Pluto is still there. Semantic quibbling like this is common in science. EVIDENCE is always the deciding factor when it comes to distinguishing fact based beliefs from faith based beliefs. The reason I have the right to accuse religious people of absurdity in their beliefs is because there is ZERO for evidence for god. Unreal things do not exist, no matter how much faith you have that they do.

Answer 6

properly solid for you. yet no longer all religions endow an embryo with human rights or a soul on an identical factor of progression. the undertaking is that the wonderful wing religous phase of society do have self assurance its homicide, and consequently they gained't compromise. that's not merely the Catholic church with the view that the 1st 2 cells replace into the harmless existence and hence must be preserved above the womans existence. The Evangelicals carry that perception too. The are not interior the least tolerant of different non secular perspectives, like the Mormons who insist on baptizing human beings of different religions after their dying so they might flow to heaven, faith isn't in step with tolerance in direction of others ideals. Its one explanation why they did no longer decide to confirm a state faith, it reasons greater branch that it heals. That existence, liberty and the pursuit of happiness word did no longer inclued blacks or women human beings. Its ought to infrequently be used to persist with to fetuses.

Answer 7

Yes. For proof, see Galileo and Copernicus. Their works proved that Earth was NOT the center of the universe.

You can also listen to a streaming version of "The Life of Galileo" based on the works of Bertold Brecht on the KPCC website (http://www.publicradio.org/tools/media/player/kpcc/news/shows/latw/2007/12/20071201_latw ).

Answer 8

It is a scientific fact that I had breast cancer 5 yrs ago. I believed it and agreed to treatment. I am alive due to the scientific fact and my belief.

Answer 9

Sure why not. I believe the Earth is round, and it is a fact proven by science.

Answer 10

How on earth can a fact be a belief?

If its factual, one needn't believe it.