• Question: If you are religious, does that effect the way you think about science?

    Asked by isabel to Fiona, Jane, Joanna, Michelle, William on 23 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by ashj.
    • Photo: Joanna Brooks

      Joanna Brooks answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Hello again! I would say that I believe in a ‘higher being’ so for some people this would mean that I believe in God. I don’t think my religious views affect the way I think about science because as a scientist I think it’s important to be objective – that means considering all the opinions along with all the facts and figures.

    • Photo: Michelle Murphy

      Michelle Murphy answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Hey Isabel,
      Yes I am religious but no I dont think it affects how I think about science. I work in an office with 6 other people, We are all from different cultures, countries and religious background and I dont think our religion affects they way any of us do our work.

    • Photo: Jane Henry

      Jane Henry answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Depends. Often there is no conflict but if you hold certain fundamentalist religious views you may adhere strongly to certain ideas that do not seem to be supported by science. For example some Christian’s vision of the way the world was made, ie created by God, makes them unwilling to accept the idea that life evolves. There are battles in the US in some schools over whether the science of evolution should be taught because of this. In contrast many spiritual practices offer practices like meditation that are designed to lead to a better life and reveal truths. Buddhism and various other spiritual traditions encourage investigation into experience and tell disciples to try it for themselves not just to believe what they have been told. This investigative spirit is in line with science. Both are about seeing what works.

    • Photo: Fiona Randall

      Fiona Randall answered on 22 Jun 2010:

      Hi Isabel,
      Religion and science to me are completely separate. Science is about facts, generated from evidence. Religion is about faith and believing things that there really isn’t solid evidence for. I think it is easy to separate the two because of that.

    • Photo: William Davies

      William Davies answered on 23 Jun 2010:

      I’m not religious – I just do science for the love of finding out new stuff, not because I want to prove or disprove any particular belief

Comments