Last week's episode of All in the Mind featured clips from some prominent atheists talking about the superiority of the scientific viewpoint over the religious viewpoint (please keep in mind that both are simply perspectives).
None of the speakers are going to acknowledge this, but even science is only one possible perspective among many. Right now, however, it's the one with the evidence behind it - but as we all know, perspectives/worldviews change over time as more information is gathered. So while I am adopting a relativistic perspective, I may be proven wrong if science becomes the final answer. Or we may make new discoveries that make our current science look primitive.
I've included the beginning of the transcript in which Natasha introduces the topic with some quotes and context.
A matter of mind-sets? Religion and science - Part 1 of 2
Listen Now - 2010-03-27 |Download Audio - 27032010
Do science and religion represent fundamentally different mind-sets? Physicist Richard Feynman said, 'Science is what we do to keep us from lying to ourselves'. From the Global Atheist Convention held in Australia this month, philosopher Peter Singer, biologist and popular science blogger PZ Myers, and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins weigh in on matters of minds and faith. Next week, renowned philosopher AC Grayling.
Natasha Mitchell: Hey, Natasha Mitchell with you, welcome to All in the Mind on ABC Radio National. Today and next week: science and religion. Do they represent fundamentally different mind-sets, different psychological dispositions even—sometimes within the one person, if we're to think of all those scientists who also identify as having a religious faith.
PZ Myers: If only God could vanish in a puff of logic we'd be all done here. But he doesn't and why—it's because human minds are part of evolution. It's an assortment of shortcuts and other utilitarian routines that are just good enough to allow us to survive and thrive. The mind is an engine that evolved to help us eat and avoid being eaten, to mostly keep us functioning co-operatively with other members of our tribe. It is not a remorseless engine of flawless logic. We will for instance accept all kinds of incredible nonsense if it will get us laid, and you all know this.
Richard Dawkins: Perhaps there's a cluster of psychological predispositions which have survival value because of some of their consequences in nature, and religion may be an inadvertent consequence, an extra consequence, a by-product which only manifest itself under certain circumstances, presumably the right cultural circumstances.
AC Grayling: And it's a very notable fact that whereas most religions can be explained and the message of salvation for example associated with Christianity can be explained very briefly, probably doesn't take as much as half an hour, it takes some years to get to grips with the basics of physics or the biological sciences. And this is one reason why of course the religions are very attractive and take so much thought, and also they convey those certainties that we're all very anxious to have. So there is no consistency between what is characteristic of the scientific mindset and what's characteristic of the religious mindset. Remember that in the nature of religions of Christianity and Islam unquestioning faith and obedience to the tenets of the faith and to the ministers of the faith is regarded as a major virtue.
Natasha Mitchell: OK, that will get you going I have no doubt. And robust exchange is what we're all about on ABC Radio National.
So why is it many folk hold faith in the existence of a supernatural God or gods and heaven and hell for example, while others are psychologically at peace with their conviction that this is the one and only life we've got? That's the question we're asking today and next week with reflections from four of the drawcard speakers at the Global Atheist Convention held in Australia this month: zoologist Richard Dawkins, biologist and blogger PZ Myers, philosopher Peter Singer and next week philosopher AC Grayling. I've cherry-picked the presentations they gave especially for matters of the mind but I'll pop the audio of their full lectures for you to listen to or download on my All in the Mind blog.
PZ Myers: What science is, it's a process that helps us overcome the shortcomings of our minds, these are sloppy operations going on in our heads, and what they are is a set of checks that allow us to operate more efficiently, more logically when we're carrying out important actions. Well maybe not as important as getting laid, but important actions that help us understand the world around us.
Natasha Mitchell: We're starting with PZ Myers, who's Associate Professor of Biology at the University of Minnesota, Morris. He has, dare I say it, attracted a cult following worldwide for his hugely popular science blog called Pharyngula, which he dubs as 'Evolution, development and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal'. Last year he was named the American Humanist Association's Humanist of the Year for what is a tireless effort in taking on the creationist movement in the USA.
****Guests
PZ Myers
Associate professor and biology
University of Minnesota, Morrishttp://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/
Richard Dawkins
The website is the unofficial site of Richard Dawkins.
Formerly Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science,
Oxford University
UK
http://richarddawkins.net/Peter Singer
Ira W. DeCamp Professor of Bioethics (part time)
University Center for Human Values
Princeton UniversityLaureate Professor (part-time)
Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics
University of Melbourne
http://www.princeton.edu/~psinger/A. C Grayling
Professor of Philosophy
Birkbeck College
University of LondonSupernumerary Fellow
St Anne's College
Oxford
http://acgrayling.com/Further Information
Part 2 of this series of broadcasts from the Atheist Convention
Features Professor A.C GraylingAll in the Mind blog with Natasha Mitchell
Hear the extended presentations from the Global Atheist Convention on the All in the Mind blog post by Natasha for this week, or download them. Add your comments there on the blog or here on the program website (look for Add Your Comments above). It's easy to do!Global Atheist Convention
Melbourne, Australia, 2010Blog - Questions of Faith: The Global Atheism Convention Considered
A blog by ABC Radio National Religion Unit's Margaret Coffey, Gary Bryson and guests...and you.Richard Dawkins in conversation with ABC Radio National's Robyn Williams
Slow TV, 2010. Filmed at the Melbourne Town Hall.A.C. Grayling - A Very Public Philosopher
Broadcast on ABC Radio National's Philosopher Zone, with Alan Saunders. March 2010.Celebrating Life beyond belief - The Australian Newspaper
Report on the Global Atheist Convention by journalist Miriam Cosic, 2010Follow the conversation on Twitter about the Atheist Convention
#atheistconStanford Encyclopedia entry on Atheism and Agnosticism.
ABC Radio National's Encounter program will run a feature by producer Gary Bryson on April 11, 2010.
Publications
Title: Thinking of Answers: Questions in the Philosophy of Everyday Life
Author: A.C. Grayling
Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2009Title: To Set Prometheus Free: Religion, Reason and Humanity
Author: A.C. Grayling
Publisher: Oberon, 2009Title: Ideas That Matter: A Personal Guide for the 21st Century
Author: A.C. Grayling
Publisher: Weidenfeld, April 2009Title: The Greatest Show On Earth : The Evidence For Evolution
Author: Richard Dawkins
Publisher: Sept 2009, Free Press/BantamTitle: The God Delusion
Author: Richard Dawkins
Houghton Mifflin, 2006.Title: The Selfish Gene: 30th Anniversary Edition
Author: Richard Dawkins
Oxford University Press, 2006Title: The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter/The Ethics of What We Eat
Author: Peter Singer and Jim Mason
Publisher: Rodale, New York, 2006Title: Living Ethically in the Twenty First Century: Contemporary Society and Practical Ethics
Author: Peter Singer
The 10th Dasan Memorial Lectures in Philosophy) - Chulhakkwahyunsilsa, Seoul, 2008Title: One World: Ethics and Globalization
Author: Peter Singer
Publisher: Yale University Press, New Haven, 2002.Presenter
Natasha Mitchell
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