God of the Gaps

The man in the street will, therefore, twist the statement that the scientist has come to the end of meaning into the statement that the scientist has penetrated as far as he can with the tools at his command, and that there is something beyond the ken of the scientist. This imagined beyond, which the scientist has proved he cannot penetrate, will become the playground of the imagination of every mystic and dreamer. The existence of such a domain will be made the basis of an orgy of rationalizing. It will be made the substance of the soul; the spirits of the dead will populate it; God will lurk in its shadows; the principle of vital processes will have its seat here; and it will be the medium of telepathic communication. One group will find in the failure of the physical law of cause and effect the solution of the age-long problem of the freedom of the will; and on the other hand the atheist will find the justification of his contention that chance rules the universe.

Notes:

The gaps in what science knows gets filled with gods and ghosts, but the atheist also fills it with the idea that chance rules the universe.

Folksonomies: science religion

Taxonomies:
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/society/sex (0.395357)
/religion and spirituality (0.182013)

Keywords:
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Entities:
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Reflections of a Physicist

Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Bridgman , P. W. (2010-09), Reflections of a Physicist, Kessinger Publishing, Retrieved on 2012-01-28

Source Material [books.google.com]

Folksonomies: literary collections

Schemas

04 JUN 2011

The Scientist Takes No Position on God

Atheism is not a scientific position, just as belief in a God is not. Scientists find spiritual fulfillment in natural laws. It's interesting to note that the scientist taking no position on god bares a remarkable resemblance to not believing in god.

Folksonomies: science religion god