Wonder what he means by this.... [agnostic.com]
1
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
5 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.
![[agnostic.com]](https://agnostic.com/images/posts/62206_lfoqimdtqsuecdw_full.jpeg?v=2){kind=link}
You'd really need to see the context in which he made the statement.
Remember that it was Pasteur who demonstrated the falsity of the Spontaneous Generation doctrine which claimed that life could spring forth anywhere; an old shirt and grain could create mice. The belief in spontaneous generation was endorsed by the church, and the development of life was considered to be magical. Thus, disproving spontaneous generation was problematic. Rigorously demonstrating that life only came from other life was a huge game changer in understanding what life was. Creating a vaccine that prevented chicken cholera presented a mechanical explanation of disease. Again, this was at odds with religious doctrine that claimed, (and still claims,) that illness is an expression of God's will. Pasteur was definitely encroaching on the Church's territory, and for the Christians of his day, they surely weren't too happy to have their established understanding of reality upended.
racocn8
Level 9
Sep 3, 2019
3
A very good scientific answer.
What he is trying to tell us is that he has no clue what science means.
Dietl
Level 7
Sep 3, 2019
0
This could be the case but then a lot of people achieve great things without having any clue as to what their actions mean.
What he means is that as your perspective broadens the full impact of the human situation hits you full force and you are rendered agape with awe, appreciation and reverence.
If you don’t like the word “God” you can substitute some other undefinable word. No big deal.
Werner Karl Heisenberg:
The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you.
The atoms or elementary particles themselves are not real; they form a world of potentialities or possibilities rather than one of things or facts.
WilliamFleming
Level 8
Sep 3, 2019
1
Like the first paragraph, don't understand the last paragraph
@Mcflewster Quantum physics is quite an enigma. Some physicists are now saying that reality is not made out of matter—there are no things, only quantum fields. Time is said to be a human illusion and space is not the smooth infinite expanse that we envision but is made out of a finite number of granules. Mind boggling stuff.
@WilliamFleming Let us boggle together!
That's a remark from the very beginning of the Scientific Age, when people were wowed by the "little beasties" they could suddenly see under that fantastic invention, the microscope. Get over it, he did !
AnneWimsey
Level 9
Sep 3, 2019
4
Good point . Our perceptions just completely changed with the invention of the microscope.
BTW Perception is ALL.
Enjoy being online again!
Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.Create your free account
Share this post
Categories
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.