The Science Delusion by Curtis White, begins by referring to the “clash” between evangelicals and scientists which is characterized by “New Atheist” authors like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.  White finds the New Atheists to be arrogant and self-satisfied, and I don’t think he is alone in his opinion.  But his complaints about science go farther than these authors.

White’s main complaint seems to be that scientists are trying to explain phenomena that used to be the exclusive domain of philosophers.  He seems particularly annoyed that scientists find science delightful and amazing even as they proclaim that there is no “meaning of life”.  He insists science writers could only be consistent if they deny feeling emotional reactions to their work, which seems bizarre to me.  White claims science says we are “just” matter and “mere congeries of meat”, even while quoting physicist Richard Feynman as saying “nothing is ‘mere'”.  White is particularly annoyed with Feynman, who plays bongos and says living things can be understood as atoms acting according to the laws of physics; as if juxtaposing the two things is insulting.  He faults scientists for failing to be curious about what their own “feeling of awe” means. Continue reading →