Friday, May 16, 2008
Yesterday at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, DC, William
Phillips, 1997 Nobel Prize for Physics, answered "Absolutely not!," while
Michael Shermer, well known skeptic and author, said "It depends." Their
stimulating debate was co-sponsored by the Templeton Foundation, created
in 1987 to act as a "catalyst" for scientific studies into the "Big
Questions." Shermer noted that "belief in God," cannot be obsolete since
most people, including many scientists, are believers. Science, by
contrast, begins with causality; supernatural causes don't count. To
Phillips, however, that simply means that belief in God is not a
scientific belief. Like most religious scientists, Phillips keeps science
and religion separate. The God/Creator doesn't do much these days. He
must be emeritus. Or perhaps quantum-indeterminacy exists to allow God to
do stuff without being detected. You may recall that Templeton once went
directly to the American Association for the Advancement of Science with a
million dollars to create the AAAS Dialogue between Science and Religion.
What Templeton bought was elaborate sound effects supporting his
conviction that science and religion will find common ground. Many
scientists found this relationship inappropriate and it was ended. For
the American Enterprise Institute it seems perfect.
Like many scientists of his era, Einstein often used God as a metaphor for
forces of nature that are not yet understood. As a result, he is often
incorrectly cited as a physicist who believed in God. It happened again
in yesterday's AEI debate. Ironically, at that very moment a January 3,
1954 letter from Einstein to philosopher Eric Gutkind went on sale in a
London auction house. The letter, handwritten in German one year before
his death, described belief in God as "childish superstition," and
ridiculed the belief that Jews are "the chosen people." The letter sold
to someone with "a passion for theoretical physics," for $404,000, 25
times the pre-sale estimate
Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday that medical care of the
wounded needs major changes before he leaves office. Why not start with
the Fort Bliss Restoration and Resilience Center? Last Friday the
American Forces Press Service reported on the treatment of post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) at the new Center. The cutting edge treatments at
the facility include Reiki, acupuncture and Qi Gong - three so-called
energy" therapies that have in common that they are many hundreds of years
old and have no conceivable mechanism of benefit other than the placebo
effect. Our soldiers deserve better.
The SLAPP suit against courageous Ob/Gyn Bruce Flamm at UC Irvine was
thrown out of court last month. Daniel Wirth, the con man who arranged
the pregnancy by prayer scam completed his jail term last. Still, the
absurd study has never been withdrawn by the Journal of Reproductive
Medicine. You might ask the editor, Dr. Lawrence Devoe 314 991-4440, why?
Why did NASA mothball a key $100 million space craft that could resolve
remaining climate change questions? It appears that the Whitehouse is
refusing to release any documents related to the decision.
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