Most atheists dont know about science (Page 3) RichieM: Science is about levels of knowledge even if the LHC does indeed prove the existence of the god particle. It will merely through up more questions than it will answer. Science is the home of the eternally curious  SecularSarah: It seems to me that science education is dismal across the board, regardless of what your personal philosophies are. This has less to do with the philosophy and more to do with how many of us are taught to think about science and learning; science only happens in labs, learning only happens at school. Bunk I say! I also catch a hint of frustration in your question and I know where you are coming from. It seems a lot of people think that atheism is more than just a lack of a belief in any god. They think it is a fully formed life philosophy that automagically leads them to other stunning revelations about the world--sound familiar?  †Jack☠OfHearts†™: @ PokerMan forum topic: "most atheist dont know about science" ..idk if that's a factual statement but my opinion would be maybe most atheist may just be 'atheist' for it's lack of religion rather than 'pro' science/evolution. You understand? as a simple way of saying: "I don't believe anything Religion has to offer" Rock8N8Rolla: And the first thing that flashed into my gulliver after CandyRivers mentioned covalent bonding was that I'd like to have her right down there on the floor with the old in-out, real savage.  Hatman20: First of all, this guy is right. As someone who was teaching subjects like spectroscopy to adults at the age of 12 while working in a museum, I can honestly say that adults of all beliefs (Atheism included) know very little about science. And considering a 12 year old can understand this basic stuff, there's no excuse for why they can't. "the same research how I base why most christians dont know about the bible, science and God followers are both religions," I would argue that this is the very statement that is the problem. First, science is NOT a religion. It shouldn't be treated as such. The main problem here in the US is that science is taught AS IF IT WERE a religion. For example, according to my 8th grade science teacher, there are 3 and only 3 states of matter.... THIS IS BULLSHIT. Sure, 8th graders may only need to know solids, liquids, and gasses to get through life, but there aren't ONLY 3 states, and teachers shouldn't be telling students that. I'll tell you why. First, saying that inflexibly like it's a fact, without providing evidence for it, TEACHES students that science is as inflexible and unsopported AS a religion. To make matters worse, doing that, and then in high school physics saying that you have to add plasma and Bose Einstein Condensates to that list of 3 makes it seem like even the very science teachers themselves are LYING about facts in science. This undermines any possible "belief" in science (even though I hate that word being used in reference to science) as it undermines the legitimacy of the people teaching the subject. All in all, it's no wonder people regard science as a "religion". Even most atheists will take science at face value, and never dig any deeper into it. Why? Because they've been RAISED by our idiotic school system to learn science the same way they learn religion. "Oh, some dude said this about science, I'll just take his word for it and move on with my life." This is one of the reasons so many people were pissed off about pluto. Since they were taught in school that there are 9 planets and EXACLTY 9 planets, rather than be taught the idea that science is flexible and intended to be changed as new data is discovered in the field, people looked upon Pluto's reclassification the same way they would look at the Pope claiming Judas never existed. Science, in reality, ISN'T religion. Religion is when people over-zealously believe in a work of fiction that was written for the express purpose of not being taken literally, but rather to demonstrate a set of morals that should be used in daily life. People who BELIEVE in it literally think they already know everything there is to know about the universe. They aren't pursuing the truth, they are instead claiming they already know the truth. Science, in reality (and not in the way it is taught in our shitty public education system) is a methodical system designed to FIND a truth you do not already know. Raise your hand if you remember the scientific method. If you don't know it, I'll demonstrate it here. One of the greatest things about the scientific method is that it can be used on just about ANY QUESTION to allow anybody who uses it to get as close to the answer as possible 1.) Ask a question 2.) Do background research (this gives you an IDEA of what the answer might be) 3.) Create a hypothesis (this is a scientific model based on your idea. Think of it as an educated guess) 4.) Test your hypothesis (Here, you're trying to use math, experiments, or observational data to prove or disprove your hypothesis) 5.) Analyze your data, and draw a conclusion (This is where you reform your original scientific model if needed, or state that your original hypothesis has been proven or disproven, thanks to your evidence from step 4) 6.) Communicate your findings (This allows other scientists to do your experiments themselves to test your hypothesis themselves. It also allows them to try and prove or disprove it with other evidence, or come up with an even BETTER scientific model that better fits the data). If this process were taught in schools as the CORE of science, then I guarantee you, atheists would know a lot more about it. This process teaches people how to do the research themselves. Instead of getting questions about science from atheists (like "what the hell is spectroscopy"?), you'd instead get answers from them after they've taken the time to not be a lazy asshole and do about an hour of online researching until they find a consistent answer from enough reputable sources. Science NEEDS to be taught as a METHOD to FIND truth in how the world works. Instead, it's being taught as a long list of facts that future atheists had to rote memorize then regurgitate and forget onto a test... THIS is why a lot of Atheists know little about science, and more importantly, it's why people like you keep making the mistake of thinking science should be regarded the same way religion is. Most Atheists haven't been raised to use the scientific method to find out information for themselves, and as such, dont have the drive necessary to learn and retain information about science. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- More importantly, atheism and science dont go hand and hand as much as people think. Although atheism is supportable BY science, they aren't the same thing. As such, it doesn't take a "belief" in science to be an Atheist. In fact, most Atheists are Atheists simply because after asking logical everyday questions ABOUT whatever religion they initially believed (for example, wouldn't Adam and Eve starting humanity result in a LOT of inbreeding?), they couldn't find any logical answers that made sense. As such, a deep knowledge of science isn't required to BE an atheist. In fact, I would argue that most atheists have a deeper knowledge of their prior religion than science, because it's the logic of religions that causes the disconnect in the first place. (Edited by Hatman20)  struanrobertson02: Atheists know which is logically correct and which is not. I'm pretty sure Science or not, they can make sense out of it. Question many things. Anyway, isn't it strange that god put million, no, billion year old fossils on our planet when our planet is only 6000 years old? Heheh . That's some food for thought. Hatman20: I do hope that's sarcasm ghostgeek, mostly because sending messiahs and informing prophets logically defeats the purpose of trying to convince people you don't exist.  ghostgeek: If you were God how would you go about convincing people that you didn't exist? Perhaps one stratagem you might employ would be give out conflicting information about yourself and what you require from your creations. By so doing you might hope that thoughtful people would conclude that the lack of a consistent religious message from all those prophets indicated that no supreme deity existed. Hatman20: Or you could just... You know... Create a few laws of the universe, and let it run it's course, letting people's logic simply determine that things are just part of the natural functioning of existence, rather than having be created by someone. Why bother with this diabolical conflicting data nonsense? If you're trying to hide your identity, why reveal yourself in 20 different directions when you could just not reveal yourself at all? There IS no data for a creator. I mean SCIENTIFIC data (as in, not some random dudes who had hallucinations). If there IS a creator, he doesn't show himself at all. More importantly, what, exactly, is the supposed motive you'd think a creator of the universe would have to hide his true identity from a single species on a single planet orbiting a single star in a single galaxy?... Have you ever considered that maybe we're just small fry whether there's a creator or not?  (Post deleted by calybonos ) ghostgeek: How to hide something. Put it in plain sight. From personal experience I know it works. Twice, while playing hide and seek as a child, I took off my coat and stood where I could be easily seen. Both times, the person I was hiding from came up to me and asked if I knew where I was hiding.  ehartshorn77: Funny did you mention Gottfried Leibniz or Alexander Hamilton The best constitution ever was written by Christians and atheists. You do know that right? simohayha625: I think probing the nature of the surroundings or "cosmos" is religion. Atheist is just a default term, truth-seekers is a much better phrase. We know now that when you are on the floor having and froth is coming out of your mouth -- you are not possessed by the devil, we got this one figured out. Science hopes us figure out things.  XFixYourBrainX: No, but do you think you would be an atheist if religion didn't exist? Religion approaches us from everywhere, and depending on if you are interested in it, at one point in time you decided it wasn't for you based off of your own experience or conclusions of what it is about and what it states. You aren't really an atheist, but just a neutral seeker of knowledge. BabesInToyland: Time Travel. We get to see amazing past historical events or future ones. What time travel rule set would you be following.. Would you be stuck where you landed in time... Go back to your normal day self if you wanted to. Would you cause a butterfly effect changing everything you've ever known?  limboo75: You don't need to be a scientist to be an atheist. Atheism is simply not believing in any god(s), that is it. Scientific knowledge is not required. Atheism does not mean replacing religion with science. I was an atheist (as in I didn't believe in any gods) long before I gained understanding of the scientific method. Alternatively, one can be a religious person and at the same time understand and apply the religious method. They are not mutually exclusive. (Edited by limboo75)  Blackshoes: Atheism is the ignorance of God's existence! They'll see soon enough either now in this world or in the world to come. Judgment day awaits us all. All a Christian can do is  and witness to the truth.It's of no importance whether one knows all things 'or is ignorant of everything In end, all that will matter is whether Jesus Receives one in God kingdom or sents them too Hell ! Who will be the fool in the end The believer that accepts the resurrection of Jesus and his forgiveness Or those that think they know more than the Son of God and reject the truth! (Edited by Blackshoes)  wsc252515: Hey blackshoes....ever hear the saying "There are no atheists in fox holes"......Big talk sometimes, put a gun to their head or in any life ending sitution....God and Jesus will be the first names they mouth, just before they wet themselves. But lets look at the human condition....it is or we are pretty pathetic. We barely have the mentel capacity to survive. In 1895 the head of the federal patent office said (in a moment of clairity) we might as well close the doors....there is nothing left to invent...lol PT Barnum of the circus....said..."You will never go broke underesitamating the intelligence of the American publc".As a whole the human study of what we percieve to be reality....is frought with to much ego and greed, little humility. The drive for not just knowledge but willing to lie and cheat to win the awards. Just the terminolgy...WE INVENTED THIS OR THAT....while patting themselves on the back. Invent....did they invent knowledge. Where does it come from...not our puny little brain....to be continued Blackshoes: I'm sure that's true ,but I suppose many go they're end screaming in fear without repentance forever regretting they're ignorance and foolishness in preaching lies (Edited by Blackshoes) | Science Chat Room 2 People Chatting Similar Conversations |