He is one of my heroes. So charming, funny and educating at the same time. His speech on the islam downfall in the 13th century due to some "prophet" claiming that math and devil were interconnected was much enlightening on how religion actually stops scientific progress.
I was in the middle of one of his talks and heard this exactly. I agree...but allow me to just correct one thing.
The "prophet" was a sheikh/imam in Iraq (?) that said math and Satan were connected. Islam had - up until that time - managed to have some pretty amazing feats.
That said, it's interesting how we blindly take advice from men with authority. Whether that's religious figures, famous people, or politicians.
"Ghazali has sometimes been referred to by historians as the single most influential Muslim after the Islamic prophet Muhammad.[6] Others have cited his movement from science to faith as a detriment to Islamic scientific progress.[7]"
deGrasse's observation was that when a scientist reaches a point where he can't explain, or understand something often he attributes it to God... And then years later someone else find it's explanation, until he stumbles onto the next problem.
It's all good. I gues it's okay to put God where your knowledge limits you, or the current more wide one, but just don't spread it that it's because of God.
It would help if their faith is what drove them to pursue scientific endeavors. And that is sometimes the case, in fact. But for every "understand the mind of god" faith-driven scientist there are at least one thousand screaming, irrational, dangerously unbalanced regressives who are one papal bull or fatwa or Dianetics away from ushering us into a brutal and stupid dark age. Like many human inventions religion can be a great thing, but it often isn't.
It would seem then the indoctrination of individuals is the issue here, not religion in itself. The current process of propagating religion through the oral teachings of priests and the dead letter of holy texts has given rise to fanaticism, pitting groups against one another.
Not disagreeing/agreeing, but do you have any evidence to back up the claim "for every "understand the mind of god" faith-driven scientist there are at least one thousand screaming, irrational, dangerously unbalanced regressives"?
