0
   

Does the author reveal that Jim Watson is religious, or not?

 
 
Reply Mon 18 Aug, 2014 11:29 am

Context:

There are some corresponding examples in the United States, for
example Francis Collins, administrative head of the American
branch of the official Human Genome Project.* But, as in Britain,
they stand out for their rarity and are a subject of amused baffle-
ment to their peers in the academic community. In 1996, in the
gardens of his old college at Cambridge, Clare, I interviewed my
friend Jim Watson, founding genius of the Human Genome Project,
for a BBC television documentary that I was making on Gregor
Mendel, founding genius of genetics itself. Mendel, of course, was
a religious man, an Augustinian monk; but that was in the nine-
teenth century, when becoming a monk was the easiest way for the
young Mendel to pursue his science. For him, it was the equivalent
of a research grant. I asked Watson whether he knew many
religious scientists today. He replied: 'Virtually none. Occasionally
I meet them, and I'm a bit embarrassed [laughs] because, you know,
I can't believe anyone accepts truth by revelation.'


More: Dawkins The God Delusion
  • Topic Stats
  • Top Replies
  • Link to this Topic
Type: Question • Score: 0 • Views: 467 • Replies: 3
No top replies

 
View best answer, chosen by oristarA
Romeo Fabulini
 
  0  
Reply Mon 18 Aug, 2014 12:01 pm
Some scientists hint there might be a "guiding hand" at work in the universe-

"A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature."-Fred Hoyle (British astrophysicist): The Universe: Past and Present Reflections. Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics: 20:16.

"There is for me powerful evidence that there is something going on behind it all....It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the Universe....The impression of design is overwhelming"- Paul Davies (British astrophysicist), The Cosmic Blueprint: New Discoveries in Nature's Creative Ability To Order the Universe. New York: Simon and Schuster, p.203.

"As we survey all the evidence, the thought insistently arises that some supernatural agency - or, rather, Agency - must be involved. Is it possible that suddenly, without intending to, we have stumbled upon scientific proof of the existence of a Supreme Being? Was it God who stepped in and so providentially crafted the cosmos for our benefit?"- George Greenstein (astronomer),1988. The Symbiotic Universe. New York: William Morrow, p.27

"When confronted with the order and beauty of the universe and the strange coincidences of nature, it's very tempting to take the leap of faith from science into religion. I am sure many physicists want to. I only wish they would admit it."- Tony Rothman (physicist),Paradigms Lost. New York, Avon Books, p.482-483

"When I began my career as a cosmologist some twenty years ago, I was a convinced atheist, I never in my wildest dreams imagined that one day I would be writing a book purporting to show that the central claims of Judeo-Christian theology are in fact true, that these claims are straightforward deductions of the laws of physics as we now understand them. I have been forced into these conclusions by the inexorable logic of my own special branch of physics."- Frank Tipler (Professor of Mathematical Physics), 1994 The Physics of Immortality. New York, Doubleday, preface.

"We know that nature is described by the best of all possible mathematics because God created it.."- Alexander Polyakov (Soviet mathematician),Gannes, S. October 13, 1986. Fortune. p. 57

"Here is the cosmological proof of the existence of God – the design argument of Paley – updated and refurbished. The fine tuning of the universe provides prima facie evidence of deistic design. Take your choice: blind chance that requires multitudes of universes or design that requires only one"- Ed Harrison (cosmologist),Harrison, E. 1985. Masks of the Universe. New York, Collier Books, Macmillan, pp. 252, 263.

"Who created these laws? There is no question but that a God will always be needed"- Barry Parker (cosmologist),Heeren, F. 1995. Show Me God. Wheeling, IL, Searchlight Publications, p. 223.

"Mathematics is the language with which God has written the universe."- Galileo


http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/dna-god.jpg

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus said-"The very hairs of your head are all numbered "- Matt 19:30

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g64/PoorOldSpike/pyle-hair_zpsd874a214.jpg~original

0 Replies
 
Ragman
 
  1  
Reply Mon 18 Aug, 2014 12:38 pm
@oristarA,

No evidence whatsoever.
0 Replies
 
contrex
  Selected Answer
 
  2  
Reply Mon 18 Aug, 2014 12:52 pm
From an interview with James Watson, in the San Diego Union-Tribune:

Quote:
Q. Can a scientist believe in God?

A. I don’t know. I have no religious component. I don’t want to speak for others, but I don’t have a single colleague who is religious. I know one person who is, and I don’t understand him at all. We have different brains.
0 Replies
 
 

Related Topics

deal - Question by WBYeats
Let pupils abandon spelling rules, says academic - Discussion by Robert Gentel
Please, I need help. - Question by imsak
Is this sentence grammatically correct? - Question by Sydney-Strock
"come from" - Question by mcook
concentrated - Question by WBYeats
 
  1. Forums
  2. » Does the author reveal that Jim Watson is religious, or not?
Copyright © 2024 MadLab, LLC :: Terms of Service :: Privacy Policy :: Page generated in 0.07 seconds on 04/18/2024 at 02:07:59