Have you ever heard of a false
binary? A binary is made up of two opposing ideas. Obvious examples include:
black/white, male/female, even/odd. So the best example of a false binary, and
the one that irks me the most, is God/Science. I haven’t encountered too much
debate over the matter recently since we’ve had better things to talk about
(e.g. racism, tragedies, marriage equality, police). However, recently my
niece, in typical soon-to-be-eight-year-old fashion, blurted out something that
her best friend told her, “People who believe in God don’t believe in science.”
I calmly explained to her that it’s important not to listen to everything that
other people tell us and that plenty of people believe in both.
This is something I hear somewhat
often and unfortunately it does have a taste of truth to it. But here’s the
problem I have with this way of thinking: It’s small-minded. The God/Science
binary may seem logical based on the news, some loud-but-ignorant people, and
American politics but if we took some time to think it out it really doesn’t
make any sense. I’m not denying
that it is ridiculously common to find people who ignore scientific concepts in
the name of God, what I’m denying is that this is a correct way of thinking.
God: A concept that varies between
different religions but the general idea remains the same. God is mysterious
because it is beyond human intelligence and understanding. A god is larger than
life, incomprehensible, incredible, unexplainable, unattainable, all-powerful,
and whatever other hyperbolic superlative you want to use. God is an abstract
concept and one that simply cannot be proven or explained or put into a little
human brain box. People who believe in a god use their logic and intelligence
in their spirituality but they would be fools to say that they completely
understand their god. That would go against the very nature of the word.
Science is nothing like a god.
Science can be explained. Actually, science is almost literally synonymous with
explanation. Science isn’t just this overarching, over-general term of “science” it’s biology, ecology,
chemistry, physics, all those classes I almost failed in high school plus a
thousand more that are studied by smarter people than me. It’s not as if the
ideas of science aren’t as powerful as the idea of a god, it’s that they aren’t
even in the same competition. It’s
dangerous for us to refer to “science” as “Science.” We can’t give science God
status, because it doesn’t and shouldn’t work like that. If we let people
worship the idea of “Science” instead of studying the actual concepts of
science, we risk the same ignorance coming out in the name of “Science” as
comes out in the name of “God.”
Science is not an abstract concept;
it’s complex. There’s a difference. Let’s not over-simplify science. Let’s
think more, experiment more, and question everything.
