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I kind of figured I would have to clarify my reference to Science. Note, I capitalized it to imply it as having been allowed to become bigger than it is: a religion. Those who worshipped science as their final truth were those against whom I leveled my accusation.
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I think you've hit upon the nature of
disenchantment here,
lmp. Once a defined set of rules is created for what used to be a
process, it becomes rigid, over-structured and pedantic. On a side note, there have been a number of 'outings' of scientists in recent times. These scientists, anonymous and not, have admitted to falsifying data in order to obtain grant money or to fall into line with a pet theory, or just to make a name for him or herself. One Japanese archaeologist was discovered to have planted
his own personal artifacts at a dig site and claimed they were ancient relics. His actions negated years of research of his colleagues and threw mountains of data and results into question. This is an artifact of the degradation of the "Search for Truth," which was my ideal view of science in my youth (yes, I was a
Star Trek baby!). "To seek out new life and new civilizations" was my mantra, but like the monolithic ship in "Rendezvous with Rama," it didn't have to be concerned with human affairs, and was all the more interesting if it had its own agenda, unconcerned with us. It affirmed the diversity and wonder of the universe. Tolkien affirms this in a sort of "inner space," as opposed to the "outer space" ideal of my youth. If Science was my religion as a younger person, then I would say that this closing of the discipline, this narrowing of what constitutes "science" has thrown me into apostasy. (Always wanted to use that word in a sentence!)
Anyway, this also pertains closely to the reason I would lean towards the #4 option in
Fordim's controversial poll...
( see
Canonicity Slapdown
(not to say I've committed myself...)
Well, I've rattled on long enough!
Cheers!
Lyta