[quote]jakerz96 wrote:
Push, you make me laugh…
Ephrem,
First, I do plan to ask you the same question, so back at you: Why do you have them?
OK, here is my opinion on presuppositions (I'll do my best to be brief): Certainly we are shaped by what we are taught growing up (our parents and teachers influence us), but when we reach a certain age we often begin to question certain things (at least those of us that care to and that is not intended as a slight against those that don't). At this point we are going to still be influenced by our teachers, but we probably will begin to construct our own world view. So, my short answer as to why people have them in general is from teachers/parents and then life experience and reflection on all we have been told and taught.
Now I am guessing your real question is why do I have certain presuppositions? Is that correct? I am assuming you think I have certain presuppositions already, but that is beside the point and you may be right. So, here's a bit of background then as to what has shaped mine. I was raised to believe young earth creationism (YEC) as per my parents teaching. School taught me evolution was right. So there was conflict from the get go. My further education (as a scientist, I study soil science) has lead me to believe that neither one of these is truly satisfactory as they were taught to me. So, I come to the place where I am now thinking that evolution assumes too much, but so does YEC as I was taught it. Which leaves me in a place that I am quite comfortable where I don't know how or when our universe/earth/life/etc... came to be or how it came to be like it is now, but I understand the assumptions that various theories, philosophies, and religions make in order to arrive at their conclusions. I for one do believe in God (but why is material for another thread perhaps), but don't assert any particular age for the earth because really we can't know it for sure. I don't believe in evolution from say reptiles to birds or chimps to man, because the evidence does not sway me, but I do believe that animals change with time (adapt), but without acquiring new genetic material. In other words a horse is a horse of course... We have evidence, but... (presuppositions)... So really the problem is that people assert too much about these things instead of stating the evidence. Now, I know you have to draw conclusions at the end of a scientific paper, but these conclusions are opinion/conjecture on the part of those authors and are not fact (sidebar: they are so often overturned we should really be quite careful spouting them off). Perhaps I have digressed too much.
Anyway, my opinion is that 'Origins Science' in other words un-testable science is really not science at all, but rather it is conjecture/faith/religion. This doesn't mean we won't learn anything from it, but it simply can't be tested which is a prerequisite of all things science. An interesting piece of satire about this sort of thing would be The Motel of the Mysteries. It is a quite humorous account of how the US was destroyed by too much junk mail piling up and many years later an archeologist discovers a motel and expounds on what everything in it was used for. It just displays how wrong we can be and often are even when we are trying to be very careful.[/quote]
…well Jake, first let me thank you for your candor, it’s a refreshing change from the norm, and your story also underlines the differences in culture and ideas we’re subjected to as kids. In our household religion did not play such a big role, eventhough i was baptised and my parents held “affirmation” evenings for schoolkids, but it was never forced on me, and if i’m honest, i don’t think they really cared that much about it…
…but nevertheless specific ideas about god, heaven and hell, our purpose on earth were instilled in me almost vicariously simply due to the exposure that christianity had, but my father also had loads of books about nature, science, sexuality and that was real to me, tangible. Beliefs, in the way i experienced them, were imaginary…
…how religion, and the bible, explained the creation of the universe never satisfied me. I’ve never felt that way with science, beit biology, cosmology, astronomy you name it; because science never gets the full picture, every discovery and invention is something new and exciting. They’re pieces of an infinite puzzle, and for me it’s not about finishing the puzzle [altough speculating about a complete puzzle is fun], but about finding out new stuff…
…i presuppose not that science is always right, but that we’ll find a way to get it right. I refuse to use the fucking f-word, but i do trust that by applying our wonderful imaginative mind to the scientific method we’ll have an entire universe at our disposal…
[see pushie, reciprocity is a magical thing; try it sometime]