28 MAR 2012 by ideonexus

 The Wonder of Curing Polio

The most compelling cases of preferring fact to fiction are the most practical. All the prayer, animal sacrifice, and chanting in the world couldn’t cure polio—the Salk vaccine did. And how did we find it? Through rigorous, skeptical, critical thinking and testing and doubting of every proposed solution to the problem of polio until only one solution was left standing. Let others find uncritical acceptance of pretty notions a wonderful thing. I’m more awestruck by the idea of ending polio bec...
  1  notes

It was someone who immersed themself in testable reality that cured polio, no amount of prayer or chanting achieved this.

04 JUN 2011 by ideonexus

 Atheism is on Par With Religious Belief

If you were to ask me, if I believed in god. Since I am a professional scientist, I would want to give you two answers. In my capacity as a professional scientist I would have to--I would be required to--be agnostic on the subject since I couldn't cite with scientific certainty say that there is a god and I couldn't with scientific certainty say that there isn't. But if I were allowed to respond as just a regular non-scientist and if you allowed me to take the very same indulgences that all...
  1  notes

Atheism is as unscientific as theism. Scientists are concerned with reality, when they take a position on theology, they are not acting within the bounds of science.