Science and Uncertainty

 According to the Oxford dictionary, the definition of science is: the intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. However, my personal definition of science is: a solution or explanation to prove what we know and what we are yet to know.

On a day to day basis, I encounter sciences all around me.Whether by reading books, watching documentaries or by attending my Biology and Chemistry classes, I gain knowledge from learning sciences. However, the theories that I am being taught have changed over time, are changing in present day and shall change in the future. So how do I know how reliable they information and theories are? And example of a theory is one of gravity.

• In 384-322BC, the Greek philosopher looked for the reason of motion and thus, came to the conclusion that things fall because they are trying to reach to their original, natural place.

• In 1564 - 1642, Galileo Galilei proposed a whole new way of looking at the way motion works: objects move downwards because gravity disturbs their motion.

• In 1642 - 1726, Sir Isaac Newton concluded with the three final laws of motion which still are still used today.

So if the theories changed over time, how do we know they won't change in the future when more "evidence" arises?  
As stated in the essay from Discover by Lewis Thomas, "...we have a long way to go" before we can say that us, humans, have a full understanding of the way the Universe works. By reading an extract of this essay, I was able to extend my knowledge to understanding that the knowledge about the way everything around us works, is not 100% determined, that it can not be relied on. What we think we know, is far from the absolute truth...how can we then trust the sources of information? The scientists. Once again, in the extract it stated that "It is true that scientists have not done a very good job explaining what they are up to", yet we still continue to use the scientists' "investigations" and "conclusions" to back up our endless assumptions. From my perspective, I think science helps understand and answer questions that other fields don't and with logical proof. In fact, I plan to pursue a job in the medical field when I am older, which shows how interesting I think the sciences are.     

This however challenges my knowledge because scienctific explantions and theories often conflict with my own religious explanations and knowledge of the way the universe works, or simply put: answers to questions that logic can't explain.

 

 

Iyomante Ritual

The Ainu people (an indigenous tribe from parts of Japan and Russia) are a once-suppressed racial minority whose religious roots are animist. Because of their worship of nature, they developed a tradition in which bears were killed in order to send their soul to heaven to bless mankind. This ritual (Iyomante) involves the slaughter of a hibernating mother bear in her cave. Her cubs are raised in captivity for two years and then fatally choked or speared in a sacramental act meant to show religious devotion. The villagers then drink the bear’s blood and eat its flesh. The skull is placed on an upturned spear which is wrapped with the bear skin. This bizarre type of scarecrow is then worshipped. The Ainu people believe bears are gods walking among humans. This ritual still occurs in some parts of Japan as the law that banned it was evoked, and made legal.