Open_Minded Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 I know this discussion is "Science vs. Religion", but it would be nice to talk about the wonder in science for a bit Which branch(s) of science do you enjoy the most, and why? What questions are answered and which questions remain open to you? My favorite branches are the environmental sciences and quantum physics ... both for the same reason. In both these branches of science it is possible to see an underlying interconnectedness within and through everything. This interconnectedness answers part of my search for the sacred, this is also the same thing that remains open ... my search for the sacred. :tongue: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wertbag Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 The study of the universe is always humbling. Seeing the pictures from hubble and the mars rover really give a feeling of how big the universe is, and how little we've seen and know. Doesn't matter what religion you are in (if any) there is no answer to how big is the universe. If its finite then what is it contained within? Even the mention of a light year is a huge distance, then you hear of galaxies in the hundreds of millions of light years away. The very light that is reaching earth can have originated from stars long since burnt out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merlinfmct87 Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 I know this discussion is "Science vs. Religion", but it would be nice to talk about the wonder in science for a bit Which branch(s) of science do you enjoy the most, and why? What questions are answered and which questions remain open to you? My favorite branches are the environmental sciences and quantum physics ... both for the same reason. In both these branches of science it is possible to see an underlying interconnectedness within and through everything. This interconnectedness answers part of my search for the sacred, this is also the same thing that remains open ... my search for the sacred. :tongue: Interconnectedness is something that always blows my mind. Five different scientists come together to describe the world, from different backgrounds, methods, and evidence... and they all agree. If anything could be called a miracle, it's that - Einstein said it best, "The most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it's comprehensible" - but it's also that interconnectedness that disproves(and puts to shame) religion as a whole. My preferred field? Physics... astronomy... cosmology. I love the stars. Merlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MQTA Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Anatomy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Neil Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 The fact that there is no limit to discovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianka Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Biology. Specifically, microbiology. However, I don't know how someone could be a microbiologist for their profession - it would just leave me in a perpetual state of fear. My micro teacher was out of his mind about asepsis. Just sneeze and you are on that guys shit list for a week. And no hand sanitizer, man, get ready to have your ass ripped apart by him. Physiology is cool too, but really friggin hard for me to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 Astronomy. I love looking at stars. I also am fascinated by archaeology and what we can learn about ourselves by digging up the past. Astrophysics and stuff like that also interests me as a science fiction fan and writer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taphophilia Posted December 7, 2005 Share Posted December 7, 2005 I like forensic anthropology. I am learning about evolution which I find facinating. I went to Christian schools that taught Creationism, so I am trying to play catch up with evolution. I like reading what Stephen Hawking says about the Universe, stuff blows me away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Neil Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Well, that's good that you read Stephen Hawking. If you want to learn about actual evolution, though, you need to pick up some books by biologists and paleontologists. I recommend The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins and Abusing Science: The Case Against Creationism by Philip Kitcher. You would also do yourself good to look for books by Stephen Jay Gould. Don't get me wrong. You should read books by cosmologists and astronomers. I think one of the key problems with creationism that often gets forgotten is that it's not just an attack on evolution. It's an attack on every field of science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Helmet Posted December 8, 2005 Share Posted December 8, 2005 Astrophysics is my favorite subject, with quantum and general physics coming second and third. It's amazing how we can describe phenomenas that appear indesciptible at first through the understanding we gained throughout the centuries. Some stuff just blows me away... can you really imagine a black hole 20 millions time the mass of the sun at the center of our galaxy, or billions of stars flying around us, titanesque explosions ringing throughout the universe and yet we can hear their whispers billions of light years away... It's simply awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bodhi-in-Training Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 I suppose as of late I find genetics facinating. From Stem Cell research to DNA mapping. Can we cure diseases by fixing faulty genes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted December 15, 2005 Share Posted December 15, 2005 What fascinates me is that the human mind is the only mind we know of that can distinguish subtleties and levels of *everything* and put it to USE!! It was because humans used this ability and developed advanced communication (such as language, rather than, say, barking) that enabled them to RECORD what they had learned, and pass it on to the next generation. This is the reason we are as advanced as we are-- we don't have to discover fire or the wheel over and over. We build on the knowledge of those before us, enabling us to expand our knowledge more and more as time goes on. All fields of science are great in that they often (eventually) overlap with each other, and allow for studies into fields never dreamed of generations ago. We keep learning and building and growing and learning... That's what I love about science. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kryten Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 Actually, I want to say that another way... The scientific method (science) lets us seperate what we know from what we only speculate, don't know, or have wrong. IN ADDITION, humans are the only species to pass on what we know to subsequent generations-- so we are always refining, redefining, affirming, expanding, and building on what we (humans) thought we knew before. There is no limit to what we may learn in the future. If we compared this to RELIGION (which already has all the answers written in a book that is not to be questioned or challenged), it doesn't matter how far into the future that information is passed on because it does not build upon existing knowledge, nor allow for expansion. That knowledge is fixed forever and should not be added to (i.e. Revelation 22:18). Religion is the natural enemy of science. If the Catholic church was still in charge, telescopes, microscopes, and most sciences would be outlawed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highvoltage Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 I love physics. I especially love electricity and magnetism, and learning how charged particles interact with and in turn create these fields. The nonlinearity of the governing equations for e&m allow for a vast array of possibilities in harnessing their power for our use. I also enjoy thinking about some of the big problems in physics, like how all of the known forces (strong, weak, e&m, and gravity) interact with one another. Right now we think we know how the first three are linked, but gravity has been a bear to link up with the others. The fact that physics is constantly growing and discovering more about the world around us is wonderful. It's a world full of more questions than answers, and it's wide open for future discoveries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
♦ nivek ♦ Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 I like when shit blows up... Either accidentally or caused, scientific forensics of things that have burned and subsequently hhave need of discovering *why* facinated the hellota me. There is no end to human stupidity when it comes to safety related "aww shits" and 'OH FUC....!!!!"'s You cannot even catagorize the ways we humans have invented to fuck something up.. Oh yeah, and ourselves in process... Partially because I did a lot of Fire Scene Investigation in my active duty time at and for Fire House and then as an independent contractor, and then I luvva-lubba to make things "go away" chemically.. Things that go BOOM are cool! kL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyby Stardancer Posted December 16, 2005 Share Posted December 16, 2005 I dabble into most areas of science, though biology is above and beyond my favorite. I especially lean towards ecology and zoology. And my favorite animal is the shark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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