In science, is there any place for belief?
Some have argued that science and religion are fundamentally in conflict, because science
is based on reason, while religion is based on a faith which is a-rational or even irrational.
In previous videos, we have explained what is wrong with that argument.
Faith and reason are not opposites, but rather are two different ways of coming to know the
truth, and in fact, there can be a profound harmony between them.
In this video, we’ll take a closer look at the reasonableness of belief WITHIN the
scientific project.
First, belief is important for science, because science is a collaborative project.
An individual scientist can only test a very limited number of hypotheses, even if she
spends her whole life in pursuit of scientific truths.
While there are examples of scientists who made a remarkable number of discoveries,
for example Newton, even their contributions pale in comparison with our complete body
of scientific knowledge.
This body of knowledge is continuously expanded and improved upon by millions of
scientists.
At any one time hundreds of scientists could be working on a single question, such
as: how do planets form?
In fact, I am one of those hundreds of scientists for this particular question.
We need many scientists because this question can be split up into many different sub-questions,
like “why did Mars end up so much smaller than Earth?” and “why is Jupiter, the
largest planet in our Solar System, located where it is?”
These two sub-questions turn out to be related, and astronomers trying to understand
Mars’s origins will need information from the scientists trying to understand Jupiter’s
origins, and vice versa.
They exist within a larger network of astrophysical research where new discoveries are continuously
shared and used to verify or disprove other hypotheses or inspire new ideas.
Within such research networks, the individual scientist does not typically take the time
to verify the conclusions drawn by other scientists.
This does not mean that scientists trust other scientists’ work blindly or irrationally.
Irrational belief is as bad in science as in religion.
In science, unfortunately, both mistakes and dishonesty sometimes crop up.
Mistakes are especially common.
Scientists know this, and so we are all taught to watch out for red flags signalling an error
-- like results that are internally inconsistent or that disagree with a well-tested theory.
Likewise, opaque descriptions of experiments or observations or models would all cause
a good scientist to question a colleague’s result rather than to trust it.
But absent such red flags, a scientist’s natural disposition is usually to trust the
results obtained by the surrounding scientific community, and to build her own scientific
pursuits on them.
This belief in the integrity of other scientists' work is reasonable.
Without it very little progress could be made.
Scientists also rely on information handed down to them from previous generations of
scientists.
This is precisely what happens in university science courses.
Here, belief in the teaching authority of the instructor is crucial.
Of course, a good teacher will explain to a student why a certain theory makes sense,
and what other theories or empirical observations it derives from, but in the end, a student
needs to trust the teacher’s wider knowledge of the subject.
This belief shouldn’t be blind: teachers themselves make mistakes.
But if they are good teachers, it is reasonable to trust them.
Most scientists also go through a multi-year process of apprenticeship during their doctoral
studies.
This could involve something as concrete as learning how to use an astronomical telescope
to obtain the sharpest astronomical pictures, or something more abstract, like learning
how to prioritize between different ideas and questions when choosing what aspect of
a problem to address.
In both cases the doctoral student needs to trust the thesis advisor to become an accomplished
scientist themself.
More fundamentally, scientists believe in an ordered and intelligible Universe.
Indeed some scientists take this belief to an extreme and think that all known laws in
physics can be unified into a single theory from which everything else flows.
Whether or not this is true, the scientific method presupposes a high degree of order
in the universe.
Remember that the scientific process relies on repeatability, that is, if the same experiment
is performed under the same conditions, we should see the same outcome.
The scientific project also relies on the possibility of formulating theories that describe
general phenomena.
Both of these fundamental aspects of science require an ordered and intelligible Universe.
Perhaps most fundamentally of all, scientists need to believe in the power of their minds
endowed with the light of reason to guide them towards the truth.
The scientific process applied to an individual scientific problem relies on a dialogue between
the scientist and the nature she is observing or experimenting on, and on the accurate recording
and interpretation of the outcome of this dialogue.
This is the work of reason.
If we do not trust that our reason can recognize when a theory fits or doesn’t fit the data,
then the whole scientific process is dead.
Scientists generally place a lot of trust in their own reason, as well as that of their
fellow scientists.
If we believe our rational souls are specifically created by God to pursue and recognize truths,
then this trust in reason is readily defensible.
For non-theists the origin of this belief in reason is somewhat more mysterious.
An evolutionary process focused on the survival and procreation of the fittest may
develop mental processes that are useful, but not necessary ones that are aimed at truth.
To conclude: belief is essential for the scientific project.
Without belief in the integrity of the work of other scientists, in the right authority
of teachers and advisors, in the orderliness and intelligibility of nature, and in the
alignment between our reason and truth, there would be no science.
For readings, podcasts, and more videos like this go to Aquinas101.com.
While you're there, be sure to sign up for one of our free video courses on Aquinas.
And don’t forget to like and share with your friends, because it matters what you
think!