WHEN SCIENCE MEETS RELIGION



Please define the following 8 terms in your own words.

1. observation

2. inference

3. hypothesis

4. theory

5. knowledge

6. belief

7. science

8. religion

Assuming that knowledge can solve problems, what types of problems can science solve?

Assuming that beliefs can solve problems, what types of problems can beliefs solve?

Please define the following 8 terms in your own words.

1. observation Observations are statements which are determined by using one of the five senses.Tools and instruments are often used to ensure accuracy and precison of observations. In statistics, an observation measures one or more properties (weight, location, etc.) of an observable entity enumerated to distinguish objects or individuals.

2. inference A process in which a conclusion is reached from inductive logic or reasoning. Indirect observations are one type of inference.

3. hypothesis are possible, reasoned explanations of phenomena. They are tested through the design and implementation of experimental studies.

4. theory A theory is a logically self-consistent model or framework for describing the behavior of a related set of natural or social phenomena. It originates from or is supported by experimental evidence. In this sense, a theory is a systematic and formalized expression of all previous observations, and is predictive, logical, and testable. In principle, scientific theories are always tentative, and subject to corrections or inclusion in a yet wider theory.

5. knowledge variously as (i) expertise, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject, (ii) what is known in a particular field or in total; facts and information or (iii) awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation. Knowledge acquisition involves complex cognitive processes: perception, learning, communication, association and reasoning.

6. belief is the psychological state in which an individual holds a proposition or premise (argument) to be true without necessarily being able to adequately prove its main contention to other people who may or may not agree.

7. science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on the scientific method as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research. Empirical sciences mean the knowledge must be based on observable phenomena and capable of being experimented for its validity by other researchers working under the same conditions.

8. religion is a set of beliefs and practices generally organized around supernatural and moral claims, and often codified as prayer ritual and religious law. Religion also encompasses ancestral or cultural traditions writings, history, and mythology as well as personal faith and mystic experience. The term "religion" refers to both the personal practices related to communal faith and to group rituals and communication stemming from shared conviction.

Assuming that knowledge can solve problems, what types of problems can science solve?

How are humans related to other organisms?

What does this relationship mean?

Why does so much of our genetic material serve no apparent function?

What caused the mass extinctions that have punctuated the history of life?

Assuming that beliefs can solve problems, what types of problems can beliefs solve?

Are we worth more than bugs or bacteria because we have evolved a much more complex neurology?

Under what conditions do we have a right to drive other species to extinction by elimination of their habitats?

Do we violate any moral codes when we use genetic technology to place a gene from one creature into the genome of another species?

What about cloning, genetic engineering? Stem cell research?

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