• Question: Do you think that Science and religion are completely incompatible?

    Asked by 795cesk27 to Eoin, Ester, Ildiko, Natasha, Paul, Tom on 7 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Natasha Myhill

      Natasha Myhill answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      This is an interesting question and quite a hot topic among scientists. The short answer is no, I have loads of friends who are scientists and are religious. It might be that they believe different aspects of science or religion to others but on the whole you can believe in both.

    • Photo: Ester Gil Vazquez

      Ester Gil Vazquez answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      The main problems when trying to mix science and religion come when dealing with evolution. When the first theories of evolution came out, religious people got really upset because scientists were saying that God’s creation came from…the monkey?!! However, as these theories won acceptance, more and more members of the church made peace with them. Nowadays it is possible to believe in God and in evolution at the same time. For example, you may think that god “supervised” evolution or that he “created” the first forms of life and let them evolve…so no, they are not incompatible (although they used to be).

    • Photo: Paul McKeegan

      Paul McKeegan answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      An important question and sensible answers from Natasha and Ester. For me, there is a key difference between science and religion that often makes it hard to hold both equally. Science is all about ‘seeing is believing’, and doing science means coming up with an idea and then doing everything you can to prove yourself wrong. Eventually, when you’ve exhausted all other ideas, you might just be right! That gives you a new theory, until one day somebody has a new idea, does some new experiments, and comes up with a better theory. Being stuck in your ways does not help you learn new things in science, you have to be open to new things!

      Religion means believing in things that we have no evidence of, and cannot get any! The problems seem to arise when science gives us a theory that goes against a belief that is held by many, like evolution versus the creation of all creatures as they are now, or the big bang versus the creation of the universe as it is now. People then find it hard to adapt to the new ideas. My feeling is that the religious texts are hundreds/thousands of years old, and the explanations of these events made more sense to the people of the day than natural selection or cosmic background radiation. Nowadays there is nothing to stop you believing in the core ideas of a faith, but keeping an open mind to deepening our understanding the universe.

    • Photo: Eoin McKinney

      Eoin McKinney answered on 8 Nov 2017:

      They’re not incompatible. Religion depends on faith – you ‘believe’ something that, by definition, doesn’t have evidence to support it as fact. Science operates strictly on weighing up evidence for and against a hypothesis and faith doesn’t come into it. For a scientist, religion is an unnecessary story used to explain things we don’t understand. Whether to believe or not is entirely up to you….!

    • Photo: Ildiko Somorjai

      Ildiko Somorjai answered on 10 Nov 2017:

      I don´t think so, depending on how extreme you are in your views. I believe everyone can choose their beliefs, but that they must not then prejudice other people´s way of life and choices. However in my case for example I firmly believe in evolution, which for some religious groups is not compatible with their views of creation.

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