Faith in Ourselves and Trust in Science Part II

As a follow up to my last post, perhaps the Universe does not care about anyone because it can not and just maybe more faith needs to be placed into ourselves. Consider in the blink of the eye of humanity's existence, how many societies have risen and fallen - along with their deities. We have been walking around for more than 6000 years, or so some would like to believe. Consider today's breakdown of beliefs by percentages. If you think about it at all, it really does not add up. But what seems odd, if Genesis is correct, if we just consider our own solar system, why did it take so much longer for the rest of the planets to form than the Earth considering the Earth is small rocky planet? Now consider our solar system is just one of billions. Now consider our galaxy is just one of billions. Is this intelligent design ramp-up time to get it basics understood for Earth, but everything else was done with incredible haste? Why are we just now beginning to understand the basic mechanics of how things work?

Was it not the late and our most enlightened Pope John Paul II, who offered that life should not be limited to this planet alone? That is pretty tough stuff coming from the same outfit that just recently apologized for Galileo's poor taste in inventing the telescope and writing about the sun being the center of our solar system.

If we stick to the surface of the Earth - and if things were designed intelligently, why would they need to adapt? Why did the designer screw the poor Emperor Penguins in Antarctica? Heck, how did they get there anyway? Were they being punished? Why not come down and say oops? "Messed up there - should have made those eggs better insulated". Our brains tend to look at snapshots and we try to make sense of what we can observe.

When we discover things that support scientific theory and begin to understand how things actually work, this not a bad thing. I believe it somewhat unhealthy to cling to ideology that was hip when the old testament was written, by men. At least it is a logically inconsistent attitude. Meaning, if you cling to one set of beliefs as true, why not take all beliefs contained inside this collection? Why not slavery? Why not how how women are treated? What about polygamy? What about food preparation? We edit for convenience and political expedience. Sometimes people lose sight that the value, if there is any, is one of metaphor. This stuff may belong in the Philosophy classroom, but never in the Science classroom. Humans can evolve, not just through biological means but through Evolutionary Psychology. We can regress too, but it is our choice and our fault if we do.