Thursday 27 June 2013

I am a Man! © Bettman/Corbis - Work man protesting for equal civil rights in Memphis US 1968

Science & Religion

This very interesting article was written in Brain Pickings (a website about philosophy, writing etc) and it refers to Carl Sagan, a very famous Scientist, his thoughts about Science and Religion. Let me share with you one of the passages but hey!There is much more and of course, even better, the book!
About the awe in Nature:
"In its encounter with Nature, science invariably elicits a sense of reverence and awe. The very act of understanding is a celebration of joining, merging, even if on a very modest scale, with the magnificence of the Cosmos. And the cumulative worldwide build-up of knowledge over time converts science into something only a little short of a trans-national, trans-generational meta-mind.
“Spirit” comes from the Latin word “to breathe.” What we breathe is air, which is certainly matter, however thin. Despite usage to the contrary, there is no necessary implication in the word “spiritual” that we are talking of anything other than matter (including the matter of which the brain is made), or anything outside the realm of science. On occasion, I will feel free to use the word. Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or of acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both."

I thought it sheds lights into the debate about the compatibility between Science and Religion. I hope you enjoy it!