What Is Science?

What kind of behavior do you expect of people who do not believe in God or religion and like to prove everything through Science in facts, figures and equations? Aren't they expected to be more tolerant and rational?

• I ask this question because in my encounter with a few people who do not believe in God or religion I found that some try to put down those who believe in God. They don't hesitate to call us morons and question our intelligence. I understand having a scientific outlook is beneficial in understanding many unanswered questions of the universe but does it mean Science has all the answers of the universe. Does it mean that our scriptures like Vedas, The Bible, etc are totally irrelevent and should be discarded and one who follows them are not intelligents? If this is the attitude of science worshippers then what is the difference between them and those who burnt people at stake for heresy? I believe the greatest gift of science has been the gift of rational thought and gift of inquisitiveness. Science teaches us to question things around us if they do not seem logical but at the same time we are expected to be rational and tolerant in our thoughts and expected not to doubt the intelligence of the believers. Till science and her disciples prove a certain theory with as much clarity as the theory of the round earth, is it not better to follow a middle path and allow everyone to follow his or her own path? Once a scientific theory is proven like the round earth, it gradually gets accepted universally . My only fear is that science should not turn into another religion which will try to wipe out believers of all other religion. Doesn't the beauty of science lie in the fact that the more questions we answer the more we questions arise? If Science had all the answers wouldn't it be the end of science? Till science finds all the answers, why don't we enjoy the science and mysteries of the universe equally without hurting others by being tolerant and admirer of everything around us? For example, if we start deriving equations for the sweet smell of a flower, when will we enjoy its beauty? P.S.: Please don't think that I don't enjoy science and I am a religious fanatic. I am as much an admirer of science and the marvels it has created as many of us here. It is just that I am just a little worried to see the intolerant approach of some of fellow science lovers.   Edit 1: By Science Lovers, I refer to only those Atheists who try to answer every phenomenon through some scientific logic even when they are not conclusively proven and try to look down upon those who don't have a scientific inclination.

• Answer:

  Here's my 2¢ on your questions - What kind of behavior do you expect of people who do not believe in God or religion and like to prove everything through Science in facts, figures and equations? Atheists are rational and curious, in fact they are one of the most rational people on earth. They tend to be knowledgeable and capable of making their own decisions about life and morality. And they don't base their knowledge on scriptures written eons ago. And as a general rule, I think everyone should be humane and keep their religious/ sexual preferences with themselves instead of hurting others and forcing their opinions onto others. Aren't they expected to be more tolerant and rational? They are expected to be (and generally are) rational. Atheists generally avoid being tolerant towards theists because they tend to be the least tolerant towards atheists. Atheists are tolerant if theists follow their own religion and don't shove it down our throats. Atheists are tolerant if theists can keep their homophobic sentiments to themselves and stop attacking homosexuals. Atheists would be more tolerant if theists stop claiming intelligent design to be true and force schools to teach ID to children. Atheist would be tolerant if religion is left in the churches, temples, mosques, homes and hearts instead of bringing them to classrooms and forcing schools to teach it to children. Atheists would be more tolerant if theists are tolerant towards us and our points of view. Does it mean that our scriptures like Vedas, The Bible, etc are totally irrelevant and should be discarded and those who follow them are not intelligent? Scriptures like Vedas, the Bible, the Quran or any other religious book for that matter have many passages which if practiced would be criminal offences in many countries. I agree that they have many moral teachings and call for people to love each other, but the same books also tell us to treat women as inferior, slavery as good, infidels to be murdered etc. And all these passages have changed over time and most of them aren't followed - even though the entire works are called the Word of God!! So what many followers of today do is follow selected passages of the books religiously and proclaim the other passages to be figurative. Isn't that hypocrisy and a convenient escape from all the bad that the scriptures preach? If this is the attitude of science worshipers then what is the difference between them and those who burnt people at stake for heresy? Atheists aren't science worshipers - we see science as a rational medium which provides us with valid proofs and facts which defeat and disprove the random mumbo-jumbo which the very people who burnt innocent people at the stake followed ignorantly and adamantly. Till science and her disciples prove a certain theory with as much clarity as the theory of the round earth, is it not better to follow a middle path and allow everyone to follow his or her own path? That is exactly what science does and religion doesn't do. Science has thousands of theories which need proofs, which need repeated results and universal validation to be established as true. Religion on the other hand rebuts every theory that science brings up with one single word - GOD! It is because science needs proofs that religion still has a huge following, because science cannot disprove God unless it has enough proof - which it never can. But when it does prove something to be a fact, it is usually met with denial, skepticism and labeled as outright blasphemy and being intolerant towards their religion. When for example, science tells us that gravity on earth is a fact - to not believe in it isn't called having a viewpoint - it's called ignorance! Doesn't the beauty of science lie in the fact that the more questions we answer the more questions arise? If Science had all the answers wouldn't it be the end of science? I think what you imply is that if humans knew everything about the workings of the universe, it would be the end of curiosity. But you need to understand that science just tries to find meaning, find the pattern, find the essence of the working of an enthralling and beautiful universe filled with mysteries. Science gave us happiness in more ways than one - telephone to talk to distant lovers, television to see news from half way across the world, internet to access the sum total of human knowledge and millions of such inventions and discoveries. Till science finds all the answers, why don't we enjoy the science and mysteries of the universe equally without hurting others by being tolerant and admirer of everything around us? For example, if we start deriving equations for the sweet smell of a flower, when will we enjoy its beauty? Do you think we aren't enjoying science? Everything that you probably use is a result of science - a phone, a dishwasher, a refrigerator, air conditioning, computers, airplanes etc. You just need to look close enough and you'd enjoy everything in the universe without the need for religion or God. Science feeds more people on the planet in an year than all your holy scriptures combined since the dawn of time - isn't that something worth feeling proud about? Science saves more lives through vaccinations and medicines than all the prayers and miracles of all the religions of the world combined. Isn't that something worth enjoying and celebrating? And being tolerant requires both parties to be tolerant - science never shoves facts down peoples throats, religion shoves everything down everyone's throats calling it the will of GOD! And since you mentioned flowers - here's one of my favorite people answering your doubts - P.S. - What you have a problem with is the attitude of a few people who tend to be rude and it doesn't require them to be atheists or theists to be rude. They just are!!