♦ Superstition versus Science
An alternate title for these thoughts could be: Science is not the Savior.
Extracted the 2 two statements below from a short post titled “Science and Superstition” which was published in a social blogging community where I am an active member.
#1) “Superstitions have demoralizing effects on men.”
#2) “Fortunately, science has come to our rescue.”
I AGREE that superstitions do have a demoralizing effect on people. Once heard a story of a tribe that killed a woman’s baby because the first tooth that broke the gum was on the wrong side of the child’s mouth. That was a bad sign. The baby had to die or who knows what horrible things would happen to the tribe because that innocent was allowed to live among them?
But as for science coming to the rescue?
Not sure that I am in full agreement with that.
The same people who came up with the superstitions or decided to believe superstitions that someone else gets the credit for inventing could have also taken the time to try to understand what it was they didn’t know the answer to, instead of just going: “OK! I don’t get it. So I’ll just go along with the superstitious belief that everybody else is going along with.” Everybody is born with their own mind.
Superstitions can serve a very sinister, deceptive and unspoken purpose.
That’s true. But …
Science can also be used to serve a very sinister, deceptive and unspoken purpose.
Whereas science should be a source of knowledge and enlightenment, that’s not always the case. The same way superstitions are used to maintain a certain level of ignorance among a group of people, misuse and abuse of science can also have the same devastating consequences.
Superstition versus Science? Clearly, when science reveals an explanation for true facts which were not understood, that is better than a blind belief in something you don’t understand so you accept a made-up explanation for it handed down by customs and traditions. But to rely on science as my rescuer? That’s a bit much. FACT IS … here we are in the 21st century and even though scientific research abounds, there are still lots of things that we don’t know from Adam!!
