science

DNA is Not Magic

I always find it irritating when writers use a character’s genetics as an excuse for how they have magical powers.  Our intrepid heroes, having been exposed to cosmic rays or sea slug stem cells or something, find that they now have the power to turn invisible, make things float in the air, or even set things on fire with their mind.  Setting aside the fact that changes to the genetic structure of a preexisting creature do not cause the creature to suddenly morph accordingly, there’s still the problem of physics.  All of these special powers violate some vital law of physics, usually Newton’s third law or the first law of thermodynamics.  These laws aren’t coded into your genetic code, just waiting for the right gene to come along and ignore them.  They’re hardcoded into the universe itself.

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Saturday, November 6th, 2010 Thoughts 2 Comments

Science and God

Until recently, scientists were largely religious men who wanted to better understand God’s creation. More and more, though, scientists have been rejecting the notion of God.  Why is this?  I don’t think that science and religion are necessarily irreconcilable.

The attitude of the Christian Church certainly plays a part in this.  All throughout history, men with strange ideas about the world that don’t seem to fit with the Bible have been persecuted.  Rather than find a way to resolve the apparent contradiction (which would, incidentally, strengthen the idea that the Bible is God’s Word is Truth), the Church found it easier to disregard the idea as heresy.  Now, with science quickly approaching the point where it can seemingly explain everything, religion is increasingly viewed as unnecessary.

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Tuesday, September 21st, 2010 Thoughts No Comments