Faith in science.

Abstract

It is argued that there is a lot of faith required to believe scientific truths as well as religious truths. The author notes that science is based on observation. So is religion. Scientific observation these days is based on techniques so sophisticated that one has no hope of ever seeing these things for oneself, so one is left believing the words of others who say that they have seen them. As science proceeds from hypothesis through observation and refinement to almost indisputable fact, the requisite faith necessary for acceptance declines and certainty in the belief expands. Nevertheless, it is questionable whether this is a case of certainty or just familiarity. Religious beliefs are also based on observations seen by others who claim miraculous experiences. In this way, there seems to be very little difference between the faith necessary to form beliefs in science and religion. He concludes that there is an element of remoteness in parts of science that requires believing what others tell us rather than experiencing it ourselves. This, it seems to him, is faith.