Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] predicting the future

[Stephen Montgomery-Smith <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

Mike Miller wrote:
> On Mon, 1 May 2006, Stephen Montgomery-Smith wrote:

> > I think that this question is much more complex than you give it 
> > credit for. I think that the idea that the universe is controled by a 
> > few universal mathematical laws is an amazing idea that took genius to 
> > discover it.  Most cultures simply did not make this discovery, and my 
> > guess is that our culture did so only because a few really talented 
> > people like Galileo and Newton pushed the envelope.
> >
> > I think that these people were motivated in large part by faith.  I am 
> > not necessarily talking about religious faith, although perhaps in the 
> > case of Galileo and Newton it did play a large role.  But even in such 
> > a person as Einstein, who was closer to Spinoza's notion of God, I 
> > think that he was driven by a tremendous faith that his formulae would 
> > just work out.
>
>
> Well, Newton questioned the divinity of Christ and was very afraid of 
> being found out by the religious authorities.  Galileo was imprisoned 
> for holding beliefs that contradicted the "teachings" of the Catholic 
> Church. Einstein was an atheist, but all his talk about God is pretty 
> clear evidence that he felt some pressure to conform.  It's hard for me 
> to give any credit to religion for the accomplishments of these men.  I 
> agree that it is complex though.  Certainly Newton believed in God and 
> was motivated by that belief, but what would he have been like in a 
> different place and time where God was never discussed?  I don't know -- 
> he could have been better or worse as a scientist under different 
> conditions.

That Einstein believed in some kind of God - I find it hard to believe 
that this was because of any pressure to comform.


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