Science and Faith from the Viewpoint of the Scientist

Abstract

The lived experience of scientists and their opinions about the role of faith in their lives provide a key insight to both contemporary issues and possible future trends in popular attitudes towards faith. Scientists’ attitudes both reflect and shape the attitudes of the communities where the scientists live; thus, for instance, at the moment it is quite common for scientists to be skeptical of organized religion while valuing very much the understanding of God that they have learned from that religion. I perceive a large shift over the past fifty years in the behavior of scientists — both believers and non-believers — in their attitudes towards religion, with a former reticence or suspicion being replaced by an appreciation of openness and diversity among our colleagues, though many scientists remain puzzled by the diversity of so many different religions, all seeking the same truth. One modern development fostered by social media is the realization that the assumptions of faith are meta-axioms that make the pursuit of science possible.