[ RadSafe ] Drawing the linebetween scienceandpseudo-science. (was Rational Thought)

[Demetrios Okkalides]

I am afraid I have to disagree. Science and dogma are exact opposites. 
Science did flourish in the ancient world, perhaps more than we can know, 
and it was stamped out of the civilised society of the time for 15 centuries 
by the advancing  religion, Christianity . It is still clearly documented 
that the spherical shape of the earth (Ptolemaios & Eratosthenes) and the 
sun centred planet system (aristarxos) were common knowledge by 100 BC. 
Despite this, it is on these same issues that scientists of the renaissance 
were threatened by the Church who proclaimed the opposite based on a "holy 
book".

Our contemporary progress in science and engineering and the fruits of both 
are by no means guaranteed for ever. If you look in the new age sites, the 
religious apocalyptic trends, the "go back to innocence" green illusions, 
the phobic reactions of western societies to new technologies, you might get 
a glimpse of a looming new dark ages era. This will not go away on its own. 
Reason must be actively defended, not left to fight for itself.





Demetrios






----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Gerald Center, Jr" <john.center at wmich.edu>
To: "The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List" 
<radsafe at agni.phys.iit.edu>
Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2011 1:19 AM
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Drawing the linebetween scienceandpseudo-science. 
(was Rational Thought)


> What is left from Christianity?  Moral guidelines, the strength to be more 
> than our animal instincts, to use science and reason to the betterment of 
> mankind.  I don't think science and Christianity (or any or religion) has 
> to be one or the other.  They can coexist.  Science to figure out how the 
> natural world works and religion to use that knowledge for everyone's 
> benefit.
>
> Believer in God and gravity (an actual force of attraction and not that we 
> stay here just because the world sucks),
>
> John
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Demetrios Okkalides" <od at tlmq.com>
>> To: "The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) MailingList" 
>> <radsafe at agni.phys.iit.edu>
>> Sent: Wednesday, October 5, 2011 5:01:37 PM
>> Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Drawing the line between 
>> scienceandpseudo-science. (was Rational Thought)
>> I quite agree that such misconceptions can happen and things can get
>> lost
>> in traslation or things can be misinterpretted. However, all of these
>> can
>> happen to important stuff such as the healing of the blind (may be he
>> was
>> not quite blind) and the walking on water (may be it was very shallow)
>> and
>> the resurrection itself (it may never actually happened). Then what is
>> left
>> from christianity? On the other hand, science can demostrate by
>> experiment
>> much of its corpus. This is quite different.
>>
>> Demetrios
>>
>>
> -- 
> John G. Center, Jr.
> Radiation Safety Officer
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