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Can science tell us what is real?
Scientists replaced religious authorities as the reliable source for what is real and true, leading many to believe that all we need to know we can learn from science. Our knowledge has increased tremendously. But can science today answer even basic questions like what constitutes reality?
The last sentence in a recent post by the excellent science writer Ethan Siegel highlights a frustrating problem. He said:
“What that means for reality, exactly, is something we’re still trying to puzzle out.”
That sentence demonstrates that science does not have the answers that many seem to believe it does. Add to this the attempt at an explanation for how the universe came from “nothing” that physicalist Siegel covers in another recent post. The discussion I have been having on Medium with a humanist friend is an example of the widespread belief that science answers some of the most basic questions about reality.
Atheist-physicalists believe that science reveals that there is nothing beyond matter and forces. If any event occurs, its cause can be found exclusively within the laws of physics and the limits of spacetime. It is a view that was captured in a comment by Pierre-Simon Laplace, when he spoke to Napoleon, that he did not need the God hypothesis. It seems that those who continue to hold that science can answer the…
