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Agnosticism - lending validity to religion?

Started by donkeyhoty, July 24, 2007, 09:41:22 PM

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Mister Joy

#45
Good point, there. Hadn't considered that one. I still think it's unlikely that we know a whole lot, though, even if there's no way of establishing that for sure. We've barely begun to untangle the mystery of our own nature, let alone the nature of our existence & I don't think that that the human race is reaching a sudden stand still in its development... or at least I'd like to hope not. I'd find it pretty bleak & disappointing if we are.

SteveS

#46
Yeah - I agree, of course.  I sure hope we're not reaching a sudden stand still either!  Of course, once we have all (or at least most) of the theory straight, there's still all the technological refinements to come.  Exciting to think about, actually.

Mister Joy

#47
It's bizarre to think about really. If we did somehow manage to learn all there is to be learned about everything then the word 'theory' would no longer serve any purpose and all we'd have is pure fact. I'm willing to bet, though, that concepts like evolution would still have to be referred to as 'theory' for the sake of religious diplomacy, along with the scientific proof *hastily strikes through that tricky word with a big black marker pen* speculation that God doesn't exist. :roll: That's assuming those things are true, of course.

SteveS

#48
It is bizarre to think about --- I think all theories will still be theories --- how would we ever know that we knew everything?  We might strongly suspect we do, but I'll bet we'll still qualify things as theories for a long long time.

McQ

#49
I'm enjoying this thread, although I haven't had anything to add to it. I love when we get into this stuff! There is soooooo much to be learned, and the universe doesn't owe us a damned thing in the way of making it easy to discover.

On a secondary note, we need to be a little more accurate throwing around the word "theory", especially when it comes to using it regarding the scientific meaning. Theory is not a guess, and it's not speculation or hypothesis. Unfortunately, so many people (especially fundies) have misused the word that it's hard to use it correctly any more.

Remember that gravitation is a "theory" too! LOL!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory

I know....this is a "Wiki" entry. But it is a solid one.
Elvis didn't do no drugs!
--Penn Jillette