Advocatus Atheist

"Scientists actively approach the door to knowledge--the boundary of the domain of what we know. We question and explore and we change our views when facts and logic force us to do so. We are confident only in what we can verify through experiments or in what we can deduce from experimentally confirmed hypotheses." --Lisa Randall ( Knocking on Heaven's Door ) "Although there is much we don't yet know about the evolution of the universe, we have a spectacularly successful understanding of the universe's evolution based on the so-called Big Bang theory supplemented by a period of exponential expansion of the universe known as cosmological inflation... This theory has agreed with a range of observations, including observations of the microwave radiation in the sky--the microwave radiation left over from the time of the Big Bang. "Originally the universe was a hot dense fireball. But during the 12.75 billion years of its existence it has diluted and...

Understanding Science Better I for one feel it is imperative to educate people about the merits of science. But before we can do that, we have to talk about what science is, and only then can we come to a better understanding of science. Personally, I am no scientist. But I did take numerous science classes in astronomy, biology, chemistry, human physiology, and psychology at a prestigious university of science. Also, I practically devour any scientific work of popular literature I can get my hands on--especially in the areas of cosmology, evolution, and neuroscience. Occasionally, I read scientific journals and articles, just to keep with the times. So I think it's safe to assume that I have an idea of what science is. Here is what I understand science to be (but don't take my word for it--read a book--reading rainbow). Science, as we use it colloquially, commonly refers to the scientific method . As such, science is basically just a methodology for testing...

Usually science minded adherents can be divided into two prominent camps. First there are the realists , who hold that mathematical theories can provide direct insight into the nature of reality, and secondly there are the instrumentalists , who believe that theory provides a means for predicting what our measuring devices should register but tells us nothing about any supposed underlying reality.  I personally side with the realist camp, but regardless, the debate as to the value of science and what it can ultimately do for us rages on. Recently I have heard several objections to the notion that scientific knowledge can only be provisional, but I think this notion arises from the mysterious way in which science works against our intuition. To clarify this point we could say, with regard to scientific knowledge, the distinction which needs to be made is when considering the status of our current understanding prior to new discovery and after discovery. Thus, it seems to me,...

Sam Harris, Steven Pinker, Simon Blackburn and Lawrence Krauss discuss what is moral and whether science can tells us. (Load time may vary depending on Internet speed. It takes about 30 secs every time I load the page. It's worth the small inconvenience though.)

Scientism As most of you may know by now, Stephen Hawking recently commented in his new book The Grand Design that the origins of the universe needn’t have had a Creator, therefore God is unnecessary in explaining the origins of the universe. Predictably this statement has rubbed some theists the wrong way. All across the blogosphere disgruntled theists have been popping up having a bone to pick with anyone who agrees with Hawking’s audacious (yet scientifically compelling) statements. One such disgruntled person emerged over at Debunking Christianity with a clear agenda—debunk Stephen Hawking. I joined in on the discussion because I saw this person throwing around the pejorative term scientism . Anyone who was agreeing with Hawking’s expert opinion was inviting her unfounded criticism. She made her intentions clear when she attacked all those who felt science was a valid means of explaining things. Well, it is. Science works… period. It’s beyond me how some just can’t seem to get...

Included below are some videos which help explain the confusing concepts of what happened at the beginning of time and before the universe. I add these because of two reasons, 1) cosmology is highly engrossing and is on the way to answering our most profound questions, and 2) theists and Christians still talk about singularities and don't have an adequate grasp on basic fundamental physics to understand that their arguments actually seek to disprove their hypothesis. Not that it bothers me, I just get tired of hearing junk theories, and would like to bring them up to speed. The problem is, because of the highly popular rhetoric sponsored by those like William Lane Craig, many Christians simply recycle his arguments not realizing they are fully outmoded as his cosmological picture is over thirty years old. It's hard for non-believers to argue against an already outdated premise, so why not keep with the times? Because, if believers ever did study modern physics and learn the...