My take on Science and Religion

Teaching laser physics and loving it!

At age 81, I am proud to share that science has helped me raise my family.  I am grateful that faith has allowed me to face the vicissitudes of life.  But neither science nor faith prepared me to deal with the loss of my wife ten years ago.  We were married for over 40 years.

At this stage in my life, I believe I have earned the right to candidly inspect both science and religion.  The attempt would be for my own sake, rather than influencing others.  I hope my introspection on these two topics is taken only in that spirit.

The Divide

Over centuries, there has been an ongoing debate between the religious and scientists. The religious believe in an undisputable God who cannot be explained and beyond the understanding of humans and hence the facts about the earth and the universe in which it exists, need not be subjected to reasoning and scientific study. Further, they argue that since scientists do not know the answers to all the questions, the creation and sustenance of the earth and the universe, since it is a creation by God. They also argue that science can at best (whether it is now or even in future) give answers to the 'How' and not the 'Why' of the manifestations in the Universe.

Scientists on the other hand believe that it is not only important but it is possible to understand the manifestations both on the earth and beyond by a systematic scientific study. They point to the fact that science has come a long way over the centuries in terms of understanding both super macroscopic and sub microscopic world. 

Definition

I consulted Neils Neilson's, Religions of the World and Marilyn Adamson's Connecting with Divine, for a suitable definition of God.  The best I could infer regarding a definition is the following: Creator and ruler of the universe and of supreme value, and is beyond the capacity of humans to understand him or his manifestations. Has great power, strength and knowledge that can affect nature and the lives of all humans and is the one who has laid down moral and ethical codes to be followed by humans. God can reward those who worship and punish those who do not obey.

Origin

From my reading, it seems to me that the first mention of 'God' was in the ancient Hindu scripture 'Rig Veda', through the word 'puru-hutas'(much invoked) referring to the 'Thunder and Rain God- Indra'.  In the western world, the word ‘God’ came from a Germanic word ‘gad,’ pronounced as 'gohdt'. The word “God” was introduced in Christianity through translations of the King James Bible.

Religion

The word religion comes from the Latin word 'Re-Ligare'. 'Ligare' means 'to bind' or to 'connect'.  Adding the word, 're' makes it to become 'Re-Bind' or “Re-Connect.

The word religion can be defined as a system followed by a group of people who believe that the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe is created by a superhuman agency. This group of people believe in a moral code and conduct governing the human affairs as dictated by that superhuman agency. Members of this group usually involve in devotional and ritual observances in praise of this superhuman agency. They also believe that this supernatural power is divine and have control of human destiny.

Different religions

Although, all the religions have their own individual characteristics, there are some similarities in in the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam). Followers of these religions believe in Prophet Abraham and his descendants to be responsible for spiritual development of humans.

They believe that messages from God are passed on to humans through a messiah, who is considered to be holy and is capable of performing miracles. They believe that there are two places called 'Heaven' and 'Hell'(either real or spiritual). Heaven is a place where people who do good deeds on the earth will be going after death and Hell is where sinners would go after death.

However, it is not clear to me whether the Heaven and Hell of these religions is the same or different. There is a holy book describing the code of conduct for the followers and it is revered as the word of God. The rules which the followers have to obey are determined by the religious leaders and their interpretation of 'God's will' is final and cannot be questioned by followers. Rules for conduct of the followers are determined thousands years ago and they cannot be changed or questioned. Morality and good conduct of a person is decided upon his/her following the teachings of the religion. Mostly men control the religious operations and women play only a subordinate role. Prayer and obedience of the rules would protect the followers and bring happiness and peace during their life on earth and beyond. Those who do not, will suffer during their life on earth and afterlife. Those who, in spite of strictly following all the rules of the religion and yet suffer, due to illness or misfortune, is due to the fact that 'God behaves in his own mysterious ways'.

Hinduism is quite different from the Abrahamic religions. Hinduism appears to be a fusion of various Indian cultures and traditions with diverse roots and it has no founder. Dharma believe in the Trinity of Gods, Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, there are hundreds of Gods and Goddesses worshiped by different sections of people of this faith.

Three more major religions are even more different from the above. They are Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. They essentially do not believe in a specific entity called 'God'. They have a set of rules to be followed by human beings which are given in a 'holy book' specific to their own religion. They shun rituals and mostly devote themselves to prayer and teachings of their spiritual leader (However, they have slowly started adapting some form of rituals. For example, in Myanmar where I traveled in 2016, people following Buddhism now worship Buddha himself through rituals similar to those in Hinduism).

Science

According to The Scientific American, science can be defined as an intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment. 

The scientific method describes the processes by which scientists gain knowledge about the physical world. It's characterized by six key elements: questions, hypotheses, experiments, observations, analyses, and conclusions. These elements are interrelated steps, so they don't always function in the same order. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on an empirical or measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning. Scientific research can be broadly divided into two broad categories -Quantitative and Qualitative.

Scientists never act upon hearsay. They always build upon the knowledge gathered before. God and his manifestations do not play a part in any scientific pursuit. While they always try to find the complete answer to even a complex problem, they are aware that it is not always possible. More often than not, it is not the result, but the joy in pursuit of knowledge is what drives the scientists in their pursuit of knowledge. Scientists do not always agree on interpretations of results of a complex problem. Finally, scientific pursuit is never static. It is always changes with changing times and with increase of knowledge.

Both of them contain some key components: Identify a Problem or Question, review previous work in that area and gather Information, formulate a Hypothesis, define the object of the research, design Experiment or formulate a theory to account for the observation, obtain results of the experiment or theory, make an unbiased evaluation and finalize the results.


My Science Journey

I was trained in Physics and was involved in teaching and research in that subject for nearly six decades. While I always believed that a certain force or power is involved in the creation and its manifestation, I never accepted that we should not inquire into what made it act the way it does.  For example, I was always puzzled how, the centripetal, gravitational and electrostatic forces between the electrons and the nucleus in an atom exactly compensate each other to make the atom a stable entity! While teaching Material Science to Graduate students, I always used to wonder whether we exactly know what is happening inside matter.

Of course, like all the other Professors, I also used to write equations on the board. But, I always used to wonder what exactly the relation between the mathematical equations and the matter is. For example, I used to teach that electrons travel in an inverse space inside an atomic lattice. But, I never understood (at least in terms of real world) what an inverse space looks like.

Further, our understanding of the submicroscopic state and the super macroscopic state, is mostly based on mathematical formulations and assumptions. The results often represent a ' black box' situation.

My Journey Through Faith

I was introduced to religion by my parents and people surrounding me when I was young. But my parents never insisted on my following any particular religion. My father always said that religion is a matter of personal choice and that I should decide for myself what is the best for me to follow.

When I was immigrating with my family in the 1980s, breaking all bonds with my native land, with no money and no job, I had to only depend on my faith that things will turn out to be better, which they did.

My wife suddenly fell ill in the mid-2000s. I desperately turned to science for help.  I dug deep into my reserves of faith and family. But the moment had come for her to pass.

In the ten years that have passed, I have found a new place to live, learned to cook, formed new friendships, seen my grandchildren growing up, watched our society deal with tumultuous cultural change.

So I reflect upon my journey, and upon life in the twenty first century.  I look at the two pillars of science and faith upon which I have rested meaningful decisions in my life journey.  And here is what I conclude.



My two cents

For me, religion and science are human constructs. The human timeline on the earth is extremely small in geological time compared to the age of the earth. Earth itself is an extremely small entity in the entire universe. Thanks to the findings of the Kepler and Hubble telescopes, it is now certain that there are thousands of planets similar to ours in the universe. Science has given us this amazing power to look deep into the Universe.  On the other hand, so many terrible destructive weapons have been developed by humans. Even if a fraction of them are used by some rogue nation, humanity itself will be destroyed.

One wonders whether there are people similar to us living there and if so, do they have their own God and whether they also do scientific research to find the answers to the mysteries of the Universe.

In my 20s, when I was a PhD student in Physics - Spectroscopy, there was an occasion when I had a disagreement with my Professor regarding the result of a particular experiment. Fortunately, I was proven right. However, I could have gone wrong. I had no way of knowing the answer, until I conducted the experiment. Neither did my Professor.  But we both had faith that whatever the result was, we would agree to it, since we both trusted the method used to infer the answer.

Great thinkers, philosophers and scientists have given us tremendous amount of knowledge. We must be able to build upon it. We are blessed with the ability to think. Not to use it to learn more and be benefited is not an option.
 
As a scientist for many decades, I conclude that there should not be a dispute between science and religion. A scientist can be a believer in God and a religious person can believe and enjoy the fruits of advancements in science. I now strongly believe, that both are pursuing the same extraordinary unexplainable phenomenon called the Universe in their own way and contributing to the peace and joy of people in their own way.

-- by Prof. Raman Kolluri