tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post6278397720346228261..comments2023-10-24T04:29:23.693-06:00Comments on Atheist Ethicist: I Have No Faith in ScienceAlonzo Fyfehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05687777216426347054noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16594468.post-11220538645571772692008-04-02T00:05:00.000-06:002008-04-02T00:05:00.000-06:00There's an interesting scene in Carl Sagan's novel...There's an interesting scene in Carl Sagan's novel <I>Contact</I> in which astronomer Eleanor Arroway challenges a preacher to a contest of faith. She takes him to a museum that has a giant pendulum with a large, massive bob. She says that she has faith in conservation of energy, so she is willing to hold the bob up to her nose and release it, confident that when the massive bob returns, it will come to a stop without breaking her nose. She then challenges the preacher to release the bob, take a step forward, and pray to God to stop it before it hits his head. Needless to say, he declines.<BR/><BR/>My freshman physics professor performed the same demonstration - holding a pendulum up to his nose, releasing it, and letting it return - and described it as proving his "faith in physics." (He had to close his eyes to avoid flinching, though.)<BR/><BR/>I think I had a point somewhere, but I forgot what it was...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com