Why are so many theoretical physicists atheists

6 Comments

You make some good points. To be honest, society today is governed by sociological pressures as it has been for all of recorded history . Theoretical physicists are not immune to these forces. Since the dawning of the age of enlightenment, the concept of God has increasingly been ridiculed. Some of the ridicule was well deserved, but the norm still stands today. Scientists are in an ongoing battle against the forces of faith. It is their job to rigorously hold hypothesis up to the glaring light of proof. This at it's core is contrary to religion that operates on articles of faith. To scientists, such an approach is lazy and they will be the last to give credibility to an institution they have been fighting for hundreds of years. This struggle has given rise to the social pressures of others in their field to discount religion as well. We see this every day in science. Today we find many subjects in science taboo. Take global warming. It has become professional suicide to question the notion that human activity is causing climate change. Scientists know better than to be caught up in that politically charged debate so honest challenges will never be seriously be considered. Then there was the book, The Bell Curve that postulated there are genetic differences between people of color and whites. The authors were castigated and black-balled even before their theories could be peer reviewed. I remember in the 70's all the sociologists claimed children of divorced parents do as well or even better than those of intact homes, obviously not wanting to challenge the progressive ideas of the sexual revolution even though there was mountains of evidence that these children were being harmed. It wasn't until the post Regan era that these ideas began to see the light of day. Take also the UFO phenomena. There are volumes of credible evidence that they exist and the evidence is overwhelming, but nobody in the scientific community will touch this with a 10 foot pole for fear of ridicule. Scientists are just like everyone else. They want to be taken seriously and admired. They are reluctant to do anything to be labeled as "that guy". Therefore, even though there is ample evidence of intelligent design, few if any in the community are willing to be an outsider and challenge their colleagues. They have nothing to gain and everything to lose. Understanding that allows you as a citizen to put scientific research in it's proper place and understand that it is not the pristine establishment they would lead you to believe. It, like politics is driven and heavily influenced by the dominant society. Unfortunately that leaves us holding the bag. We cannot look to scientists for truth, only their opinion colored by the forces that write their checks.

Don't you get it that what is discovered is not the end of it. And each advance slowly but surely reduces any argument for some supernatural being. So, logically, its likely that future discoveries will completely remove any possible input made by a supernatural entity.

Isn't it obvious?

Scientists believe, as is required of them, only what is provable by science. And,even then, what can be proven time after time, under laboratory conditions.

God (not religion, the two have nothing in common), is not provable.

Hence, it is hardly remarkable that scientists have no belief in God.

That isn't to say that a scientist can't believe in God (even if the existence of God cannot be proven by scientific techniques), it's just his "dark side".

Give us a handful of examples. You're probably thinking of Darwin's Origin of Species theory of evolution, or something like that. Each new discovery in science and each new confirmed theory in science does not, as if according to some general rule as you suggest, systematically annihilate the concept of a unified "God" theory, as if science and theology were in some sort of infinite circular dichotomy. Give me some examples, please. How does modern science literally eat away at the concept of a higher deity with each passing semester at MIT?

Only 11% of people think this is a valid question? What a spoiled, rotten bunch of fools inhabit our pampered society today; where everyone takes for granted not only this vastly beautiful and incomprehensible world we live in, but also feels justified to attribute it all to chaos and nihilism...they don't even bother to leave comments, because they know I'd skewer them. I know it's the 'cool' road to walk - denying an intelligent designer of any kind - but that doesn't make it any less of a pathetic argument. There are some real egoistic pricks who claim that each scientific discovery makes it even more clear that there is no 'creator' entity, but I say the opposite is true! With each new discovery we make, the universe just explodes into ever more vast and incomprehensible dimensions. It floors the scientists who devote themselves to study it - the human genome, for example, has proven to be but the tip of the iceberg in understanding life. It apalls me that so many people seem to think we've got it 'all figured out' and can rest on their atheistic laurels just because some 19th century naturalist who spent a few years on the Galapagos islands discovered evolution. You privileged little babies are going to have to suck up to the truth...you haven't been absolved of anything because this man wrote 'On the Origin of Species' 100 years ago. Your privileged post-modern mentalities are as transparent as the Vatican bishops' dark-age mindframes were during the Crusades. We have a long way to go before we can sit back and act so smug about the universe we live in, people.

What if our brains aren't even complex enough to understand the universe? People seem to think we are capable of learning anything.