The King is dead. Long live the King.
Religion is succeeded by the blind worship of science. Scientism, the religion of "Science" - ironically distinct and remotely distant from real science - is becoming the source of meaning in our age. We scoundrels must of necessity choose our own values and meaning, but we invariably choose them to be dictated by the authority of fantasy.
Why do we live? "Because that's the purpose of our genes", say the adherents of scientism. Yet genes do not have purpose, says science and reason. Genes are mere bunches of atoms, that either replicate or not. They have no purpose, and Nature cares not what they do. Nature isn't the slightest bit pleased when things replicate, and nor is it at all concerned when they don't. Science, and not scientism, seeks to map this Nature - to reflect its form.
Science is descriptive, rather than prescriptive. It cannot tell us what is good or bad. It cannot provide us with value. If we value truth, then we take that value with us to science. We don't get it from science. There's no scientific experiment that can prove the value of truth, just as there's no scientific experiment that can prove the value of life or of death. Scientism, however, is not science, and it has a proof for everything.
In scientism, truth and value are quite literally in numbers. "Many people believe X." "The consensus is X." "My colleagues agree." "There are a number of books on the subject." "I have received no complaints." "There is much support." Truth is by popular vote. The more Nature does it, the more right it is. It is the authority of DNA - the authority of the tradition of Nature itself. And whereas in ordinary religion the logical fallacy of choice is the appeal to the authority of some holy book, in scientism it is the appeal to the authority of the number (argumentum ad numerum). For the adherents of scientism, numbers represent the only real value, and these become the very substance of their life.
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Religion is succeeded by the blind worship of science. Scientism, the religion of "Science" - ironically distinct and remotely distant from real science - is becoming the source of meaning in our age. We scoundrels must of necessity choose our own values and meaning, but we invariably choose them to be dictated by the authority of fantasy.
Why do we live? "Because that's the purpose of our genes", say the adherents of scientism. Yet genes do not have purpose, says science and reason. Genes are mere bunches of atoms, that either replicate or not. They have no purpose, and Nature cares not what they do. Nature isn't the slightest bit pleased when things replicate, and nor is it at all concerned when they don't. Science, and not scientism, seeks to map this Nature - to reflect its form.
Science is descriptive, rather than prescriptive. It cannot tell us what is good or bad. It cannot provide us with value. If we value truth, then we take that value with us to science. We don't get it from science. There's no scientific experiment that can prove the value of truth, just as there's no scientific experiment that can prove the value of life or of death. Scientism, however, is not science, and it has a proof for everything.
In scientism, truth and value are quite literally in numbers. "Many people believe X." "The consensus is X." "My colleagues agree." "There are a number of books on the subject." "I have received no complaints." "There is much support." Truth is by popular vote. The more Nature does it, the more right it is. It is the authority of DNA - the authority of the tradition of Nature itself. And whereas in ordinary religion the logical fallacy of choice is the appeal to the authority of some holy book, in scientism it is the appeal to the authority of the number (argumentum ad numerum). For the adherents of scientism, numbers represent the only real value, and these become the very substance of their life.
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