Today’s letter-to-the-editor appears in the Napa Valley Register of Napa, California, one of the premier wine regions in the world, and home of Napa State Asylum for the Insane (now called Napa State Hospital). The letter is titled Science is fallible man-made product. The newspaper has a comments section.
Because today’s writer isn’t a politician, preacher, or other public figure, we won’t embarrass or promote him by using his full name. His first name is Bob. Excerpts from his letter will be enhanced with our Curmudgeonly commentary and some bold font for emphasis. Here we go!
… Mr. Hunter appears to disregard the fact that laws of physics, science and mathematics are all made and contrived by “Man.” And Man is inherently fallible.
Bob is referring to this earlier letter, No need of that hypothesis, which he doesn’t like at all. He says:
They [the laws of physics] are at best based upon a “best guess” approach which is based upon the current knowledge and understanding of the so-called evidence at the time. In other words, it is a belief system subscribed to by a society of “mass-delusional” believers that changes as the wind blows.
Bob says that you’re a mass-delusional believer, dear reader. Are you? Let’s read on:
Let me refine this observation somewhat. Science “believes” there are black holes in the universe. They cannot be seen nor can they be touched. They merely “exist” because physics, science, math, and scientists say so! No actual available, tangible proof one can see or touch, mind you. Sort of sounds religiously familiar doesn’t it?
Well, dear reader — have you ever seen or touched a black hole? Bob continues:
Or how about Pluto? Designated a planet for decades and taught in science classes as the ninth planet of our solar system. Then along comes science and POOF — Pluto is now designated a “giant ice cube” and NOT our ninth planet.
Yeah — what about Pluto? Here’s more:
My point is, just about any time someone wants to make a claim that “This is, or can be, proven by science,” as politicians and scientists etc. so readily state, in reality it is a best guess. Science, physics and mathematics are contrived by Man, based upon a belief system of ever changing understanding, dimensions and scope, and therefore inherently fallible. Nothing in science is absolute.
Admit it, dear reader — all the science you so gullibly believe is just a best guess. You’re feeling pretty stupid now, aren’t you? Moving along:
There is one major difference however between science and a religious belief: Science is ever changing. The religious belief does not change over time or as the wind blows. Belief in God by those who subscribe remains unchanged. So let the debate continue.
Bob’s got a great point! And now we come to the end of his letter:
Ultimately when we all pass on to that “Giant Ice Cube” in the sky, the debate will be solved and the answer will be at hand! And science will have nothing to do with it.
Bob is right! Forget about science. The only way to really know anything is to die. Great letter!
Copyright © 2016. The Sensuous Curmudgeon. All rights reserved.
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The Sensuous Curmudgeon 
” The religious belief does not change over time or as the wind blows.”
Bob may not be very interested in history. His ignorance doesn’t appear to be willful unfortunately.
That is the conservative Christian trope and like everything else they believe it couldn’t be more wrong. What’s also important is that even if it were true, the “facts” presented about the natural world in the Bible would still be wrong. Repeating something false for 3000 years doesn’t make it true.
“Ultimately when we all pass on to that “Giant Ice Cube” in the sky, the debate will be solved and the answer will be at hand!”
The “Giant Ice Cube?” That’s one I’ve never heard of before. Is that in the bible?
By physics, I assume he means the Big Bang, and the Big Bang only. Ignorant of any physics what so ever. And as Dean says, ignorant of history too.
Ultimately when we all pass on to that “Giant Ice Cube” in the sky, the debate will be solved and the answer will be at hand!
The “Giant Ice Cube?” That’s one I’ve never heard of before. Is that in Bob’s bible drink mixology somewhere?
Interestingly, some theists use the existence of regular universal laws, such as those found in mathematics, to be “proof” of their god, I guess Bob won’t be making that argument any time soon. 🙂
Stay tuned for more from Bob about how much he doesn’t know…
Bob can’t accept that scientific explanations are tentative, subject to change. If scientists can’t get it right the first time, why trust them? They must have agendas. It’s so much easier to
acceptignore the errors and contradictions of an old book, like the smiting god of the OT and the loving god of the NT.There is one major difference however between science and a religious belief: Science is ever changing. The religious belief does not change over time or as the wind blows. Belief in God by those who subscribe remains unchanged. So let the debate continue.
That “religious belief does not change over time or as the wind blows” would be irrelevant even if it were true (and religious beliefs do indeed change over time, or we’d still be burning witches and Galileo’s books would still be banned by the Vatican, while science does not change merely “as the wind blows”). Failure to change a belief even when it’s shown to be wrong is a hallmark of religion, at least of the fundamentalist sort, rather than of science.
One thing about Bob’s assertion that science uses a “best guess” approach. Yes it is true, but as instrumentation improves so does the best guess. The example cited Pluto. If you go by the mass estimate through the years you get
1848 12 Mearth
~1900 7 Mearth
1930 1 Mearth
1960s 0.1 Mearth
1970s 0.003 Mearth
1978 0.0021 Mearth
2015 0.00218 Mearth
Note that the mass estimates start before discovery because of apparent perturbations of Neptune’s orbit. The discovery of Charon in 1978 got us very close, an actual flyby even closer. Also significant was the discovery of Eris and other Pluto sized bodies in that part of the solar system. These are all factors that make what Bob learned in 3rd grade science obsolete, but the science was never wrong it was on a course of continuous improvement.
As for the Bible a good example is how marriage has been changed. From polygamy and easy divorce to divorce is a sin. Religion is always a best guess of what God wants, and amazingly it almost always exactly corresponds with a person’s ingrained beliefs and prejudices.