Friday, October 16, 2009

Like lemonade

"At the door the girl suddenly remarks that science, at least, is founded on optimism. It boldly presses on, believing in a future, which, if not better, will at least be more enlightened. It is, perhaps, the only human activity that still refers to our future, to the future of knowledge and even of life. For science, no backward step is possible. It has to stride on ahead, sure of being better tomorrow and better still the day after."

Jean-Claude Carrière, Please, Mr. Einstein

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Disagree. Science is founded on faith, not optimism. We have faith that God exists, that he created the world, and that he created a non-chaotic and understandable world.

With no God, there is no ultimate point in understanding, considering what we have learned regarding thermodynamics (the world will decay).

With no creation by God, there is no help from God. If he didn't create the world, he didn't set its parameters. If he didn't set the parameters, he doesn't have control over it.

With no non-chaotic universe, there is no inductive scientific method. Science fails.

It is remarkable that a biased observer such as man can understand so many useful things about his environment.