RE: [Utah-astronomy] science and religion
Kim Hyatt wrote:
Aaron, would you mind sharing with me/us what you do for a living? I'm always a bit in awe of really smart people such as scientists.
Though your question sounds a little facetious, I'll assume it is genuine. I am a software consultant. I have a degree in Computer Science. In another email you wrote:
I know of no observations of this kind that support any religious hypothesis.
There are millions of people around the world with observations that support religious hypotheses. The simplest example involves receiving answer to prayer. Aaron
I feel bad that you thought I might have been mocking - I certainly wasn't. I respect your training and occupation. I really wanted to pursue one of the sciences myself, but I didn't have the brainpower and discipline for it. Geology, archaeology, anthropology, paleontology, physics, astrophysics, cosmology, psychology (though more voodoo than science), and of course, astronomy, all fascinate me. By the way, I believe that I'm qualified to make the observation about psychology that I did because my undergraduate degree is in social psychology. However, I don't really feel qualified to think of myself as a scientist. My own experience with prayer tells me that there is, indeed, a supernatural force in the universe that I have been taught (and believe) to be God. But I don't think that my experience has the same weight, scientifically speaking, as do the geologic record, the fossil record, observations of the solar system and beyond, and findings from the laboratory that support scientific theories, especially those of evolution and cosmology. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Lambert, Aaron" <Aaron.Lambert@Williams.com> To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 4:25 PM Subject: RE: [Utah-astronomy] science and religion | Kim Hyatt wrote: | > Aaron, would you mind sharing with me/us what you do for a | > living? I'm | > always a bit in awe of really smart people such as scientists. | | Though your question sounds a little facetious, I'll | assume it is genuine. I am a software consultant. I | have a degree in Computer Science. | | In another email you wrote: | > I know of no observations of this kind that support any | > religious hypothesis. | | There are millions of people around the world with | observations that support religious hypotheses. The | simplest example involves receiving answer to prayer. | | Aaron | | _______________________________________________ | Utah-Astronomy mailing list | Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com | http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy | Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com | | ______________________________________________________________________ | This e-mail has been scanned by Cut.Net Managed Email Content Service, using Skeptic(tm) technology powered by MessageLabs. For more information on Cut.Nets Content Service, visit http://www.cut.net | ______________________________________________________________________ | |
Kim, I have met Aaron and we have worked on a small project together- he's not just a faceless name on the list. He is very intelligent and thoughtful and I was hurt to think that I may have offended him by my post, such was never my intent. He's never personally accused me of anything insulting and I'd hate to think I hurt his feelings. Likewise, Aaron, I have known Kim for a while and find him pretty darn deep and highly intelligent, despite his occasional self-effacement and denial! And I am sure his request was very sincere. Let me say again that I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or cause ill will. I keep hoping Cynthia kills this thread...I need to hold onto some adrenalin for my daily run! --- Kim Hyatt <kimharch@cut.net> wrote:
I feel bad that you thought I might have been mocking - I certainly wasn't. I respect your training and occupation.
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Thanks, Chuck. It's obvious many of us feel passionately about this debate, especially when it may show up in the classroom. I, too, hope that no one will be offended. If anyone has been offended by my remarks, please forgive me - that was never my intent. I've been fascinated by Don's comments on this list and information that he has shared with me at star parties about problems with the accepted paradigms of cosmology, astronomy, evolution, etc. I've long wondered about such things as purported fossil finds that do not fit the accepted evolutionary mode, and astronomical discoveries that don't fit currently accepted theories of astronomy and cosmology. Our science is not perfect, and I've never heard anyone claim that it is. Some creationists might consider that their religion is not perfect (I admit that I don't believe that mine is) and let us all move on. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Chuck Hards" <chuckhards@yahoo.com> To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Sent: Tuesday, August 09, 2005 6:19 PM Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] science and religion | Kim, I have met Aaron and we have worked on a small | project together- he's not just a faceless name on the | list. He is very intelligent and thoughtful and I was | hurt to think that I may have offended him by my post, | such was never my intent. He's never personally | accused me of anything insulting and I'd hate to think | I hurt his feelings. | Likewise, Aaron, I have known Kim for a while and find | him pretty darn deep and highly intelligent, despite | his occasional self-effacement and denial! And I am | sure his request was very sincere. | | Let me say again that I don't want to hurt anyone's | feelings or cause ill will. | | I keep hoping Cynthia kills this thread...I need to | hold onto some adrenalin for my daily run! | | --- Kim Hyatt <kimharch@cut.net> wrote: | | > I feel bad that you thought I might have been | > mocking - I certainly wasn't. | > I respect your training and occupation. | | __________________________________________________ | Do You Yahoo!? | Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around | http://mail.yahoo.com | | _______________________________________________ | Utah-Astronomy mailing list | Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com | http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy | Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.utahastronomy.com | | ______________________________________________________________________ | This e-mail has been scanned by Cut.Net Managed Email Content Service, using Skeptic(tm) technology powered by MessageLabs. For more information on Cut.Nets Content Service, visit http://www.cut.net | ______________________________________________________________________ | |
This morning I remembered something Carl Sagan said a few decades ago. I'm paraphrasing: "Life is one of the more interesting properties of hydrogen, if you give it enough time." That sentence always struck me as stating volumes about the awesome complexity and wonder of the natural world. That from such humble beginnings, simple constituents, the most amazing complex stuctures, both living and non-living, have arisen over cosmic timescales. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Gah, I thought it was going rather well. :) Not that I'm reading them all... I get to work today and I have 36 new emails from the UA list! I don't think I can keep up! :) If anyone really thinks the stream should end, send me a direct email. ;) Cyn Chuck Hards wrote:
I keep hoping Cynthia kills this thread...I need to hold onto some adrenalin for my daily run!
--- Kim Hyatt <kimharch@cut.net> wrote:
I feel bad that you thought I might have been mocking - I certainly wasn't. I respect your training and occupation.
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participants (4)
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Chuck Hards -
Cynthia Blue -
Kim Hyatt -
Lambert, Aaron