The Wonder and Limits of Science - Dr. Karin Öberg

Dr. Karin Öberg, professor of astronomy at Harvard University, discusses the scientific method and its power to uncover truths about the natural world. The success of the scientific method also speaks to the power of the human mind to comprehend and contemplate the universe we live in. Yet for all its power, the scientific method is far from the only path to truth. This video discusses some of the recent wonders revealed through the scientific method and then discusses which kind of objects and processes can in principle be examined with the scientific method, and also presents some contemporary questions to which scientific, philosophical, and theological answers are possible and may fruitfully interact with one another.
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[@iqgustavo]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:35 🌌 Science often evokes awe and wonder, but this sentiment isn't fully embraced despite science's significant contributions to human flourishing. 03:45 🔬 Science's fundamental strength lies in uncovering truths about the universe, both at cosmic scales and within the realm of life itself. 06:36 🌱 Science has revealed that the essence of life is encoded in DNA and RNA, connecting all living things and reinforcing the interconnectedness of creation. 09:41 🔄 The scientific process involves asking questions, forming hypotheses, designing experiments, and embracing both discovery and falsification as integral to progress. 14:06 🪐 The process of science involves a balance of observation, hypothesis generation, and experimental validation, often guided by intuition, inspiration, and beauty. 20:11 🌌 The practice of science can be influenced by external pressures, ideological biases, and historical context, which can impact the acceptance of new ideas and theories. 28:54 🌌 The relationship between religion and science is not necessarily conflicting; they can complement each other by revealing different truths. 30:16 🤝 Science is a dialogue between subjective ideas and objective truth, constantly testing ideas against reality to refine knowledge. 31:27 🧪 Not all questions can be addressed through the scientific method; areas like art, morals, and philosophy require alternative sources of truth and knowledge. 32:46 🙌 Reclaiming trust in reason is vital; diverse ways of seeking truth include philosophy, theology, art criticism, and subjective experiences. 34:42 ⚡ Science doesn't have ultimate authority over all truths; some matters, like miracles, the origins of life, and the human soul, lie beyond its scope. 38:15 🌌 Science's assumptions about order, intelligibility, and the correspondence between experience and reality aren't proven by science itself. 39:52 🧠 The trustworthiness of our reason is grounded in faith; faith and reason can coexist, with faith providing a foundation for the scientific project. 41:24 📚 Science has unveiled a universe with a narrative, order, and intelligibility, reflecting the presence of a Creator and revealing God's natural wonders. 42:34 🪐 Scientific discoveries highlight the Creator's generosity in sharing causal powers, allowing processes like cosmic dust to planets and evolution to occur. 43:43 🌠 Science's limitations enable its wonders, drawing us to both the truths revealed and the source of all truths, the ultimate Creator. Made with HARPA AI

[@torbjorntoll1481]

Very interesting lecture. What is missing are definitions of science and the scientific method. Which academic disciplines are treated as science, and which ones are excluded, and on what grounds? Is historical science, science? Or only physics and chemistry? Even if there is a value in the generalisation of some sciences into “science” and some scientific approaches and methods into “the scientific method”, the limitations of such abstractions should also be discussed. This is related to the idea of the university in which theology, philosophy, and the fine arts are as much “scientific”, i. e. academic, as the natural sciences. The same goes with religion. The problem of defining religion is important to deal with. Is there one essence of all religions giving reasons for treating all religious phenomena into as if they all point towards “religion”? The generalisation of everything “religious” into one brings all kinds of problems in these discussions.

[@BrianBenson-rc9mu]

Thanks for this video. A good way to continue searching for the truth is reading "Work of Human Hands" by Fr. Anthony Cekada.

[@johnw.snyder4230]

Thanks so much, really enjoyed this talk

[@ryanromens3270]

Interesting ideas. We have no way to prove most of this. Possibilities and fun to interpret

[@JoeCurran-s4x]

Really great speaker, thank you

[@dynamic9016]

Really appreciate this video.

[@EL_394]

what is the philosophy of your sciences? ugliness? its time to bring philosophy back into the picture

[@goodquestion7915]

Although, I am a materialist I can only have respect for Dr. Karin Oberg. Out of many videos in this channel, this is the only professional (so far) that I could trust my kids to talk to.

[@eafowler777]

I wonder how your materialist view of the world affects your moral precepts. I would guess that if you took your materialism seriously you would arrive at resulting moral positions that you would find abhorrent and want to resist your children adopting. This would not tell you the truth or untruth of your world view, but would show that you have some significant cognitive dissonance, as I would suspect is the case based on your comment. Someone who has taken their materialistic and scientistic views to their logical conclusions is one of the last people you want teaching and influencing children if you want them to prosper and avoid an empty and depressing nihilism. I hope that you continue searching and learning, as you will progressively find that your materialist view is untenable.

[@goodquestion7915]

@eafowler777 Your christian worldview is a package of scientific hypothesis, dietary rules, moral proclamations, rules, and laws that often contradict each other; that's why you say Materialism can't account for morality. But, unlike you, I use the best stuff available, not what goat herders and illiterate people guessed 2,000+ years ago. This is how I jive: Epistemology: science. Ontology: science. Metaphysics: materialism. Morality: humanism. Law: The Constitution + laws Diet: medical knowledge. Children education: trained teachers, counselors, and psychologists. Sunday "school": drag queen history time, or a museum of science. Avoid doomsters and Devil believers (preachers, priests, nuns, and apologists). Wine for parties: commerce. Leprosy curing: medicine. Obtaining goats with stripes: genetics. Dealing with fruitless fig trees: avoid hysterical outbursts and consult an expert. Fruit season is a thing. Feeling godly: psychiatry. Good luck with your children abandoning christianity after a long struggle to harmonize reality and fantasy.

[@godfreydebouillon8807]

Funny, I'd never let my kids near a materialist.

[@goodquestion7915]

@@godfreydebouillon8807 that's your prerogative. Let's see what they decide when they are adults. I'm sure you'll be surprised. How do I know that? Science. Statistics (a branch of science) show that young people, today, are leaving in droves the "faith" of their parents. By the way, that behavior or tendency is explainable by evolution. Young living beings (animals, plants) have a tendency to "spread outwards", away from their place of birth; which includes ideas.

[@godfreydebouillon8807]

@goodquestion7915 No, statistics isn't a "branch of science", it's a branch of math. Many subjects depend upon math's correctness and it's universal application. That includes physical science, philosophy (for subjects such as propositional logic, modal logic, and categorical logic and probability theory), finance, economics, demographics etc etc . To the extent that young people are leaving faith in "droves" is a direct function of them being highly irrational then. In the 1930s, young Germans were joining the Nazi Party in droves, and the decades before that Europeans were joining the atheist Communist Party in droves. Ad Populum, friend. Very fallacious. And pertaining to statistics, demographers can demonstrate that what you say is true in Western Europe and North America, and is exactly the opposite in the rest of the world, and "nones" well be a smaller percentage of the worlds population in 50 years. It's currently at it's high water mark. All countries who have such a majority population will collapse socially, economically and demographically (as we see occurring now). This inevitably follows a purely irrational philosophy. My children have almost no chance of leaving their faith, because they are far too rational, won't be indoctrinated with logically incoherent secular "thought", and will be shown from start to finish why it is literally proven that God exists and why the greatest logicians in human history thought so, from Aristotle to Aquinas to Leibniz to Godel. That's called studying and hard work, but there's zero chance they'd be capable of taking modern, simpleton atheist arguments seriously. The reason most people in Western countries become atheists is because, almost always, they come from a divorced home or an abusive one. That is it, and that is all. It is not because they are so "rational", it's the exact opposite.

[@thescoobymike]

The Catholic response to miracle claims is often unscientific though. When there’s no known diagnosis or a known explanation for a medical event, a scientist would say there’s missing data or the answer simply hasn’t been discovered yet. The Church, however, would declare it a miracle.

[@johnnichols2088]

Brother, when a tumor disappears overnight without a trace, even if it were by a natural process, that’s a miracle.

[@thescoobymike]

@@johnnichols2088 it’s an amazing thing for sure but you can’t attribute it to any deity or the prayers of a saint

[@godfreydebouillon8807]

​@@thescoobymikeWhy not, if it was because of a deity or the prayers to a saint?

[@thescoobymike]

@@godfreydebouillon8807 how would you know that it’s from them though? What methods do you use to prove that?

[@godfreydebouillon8807]

@@thescoobymike What methods do you use to "prove" anything? Depends on the question being asked, and who the person is who is doing the believing :) For some people who believe, if a parking spot opens up after prayer, they consider a miracle. Other people would say if someone died and rose from the dead, it'd be a miracle (when I say "miracle" I'm using it in the sense of "divine intervention"). A naturalist on the other hand, if they are a pure naturalist, would need to say that ANYTHING they witness has "natural" explanations. If they saw a person rise from the dead, or if I commanded a mountain to be thrown into the sea and it did, if they were to be consistent they could not invoke "God of the gaps", and they would need to say something like "We may never understand why that happened, but it's irrational to think that just because we don't understand something that if we had enough time, that we couldn't explain what we just witnessed scientifically, after all, in an infinite multiverse, such physical anomalies are certain to occur now and then". Pure Naturalism is a purely unfalsifiable philosophical tautology. I believe literally everything is a miracle. If I get a disease and just die, if I get a parking spot, or if I don't, the fact that time seemingly exists, or the fact we exist and are in motion and animated, to me is all a miracle.

[@EL_394]

how does this get us both the means of production and reproduction under control? 90% of the people you bring into the world dont want to be here

[@eliford9826]

Well, the Catholic teaching is that God created the world - including human beings - of his own free will, as an act of love. We are taught that creation is good, that human beings are good (by nature), and that life is good. Believing that life is good really takes a leap of faith, considering all the complaints we may have about our existence. But it's one of the most important choices that we can make in life. This one choice, by itself, can determine whether our life is more like heaven or hell.

[@EL_394]

@@eliford9826 no.. the devil is not good and must be cast out.. the enlightenment was the result of competition spurred on by overpopulation.. and are reproduction needs to be carefully planned out by the state/church

[@bmc8871]

Who are you to make that judgement?

[@EL_394]

@@bmc8871 the political left is the result of inalienable rights granted through the contemporary "right".. their existence is of the greatest injustice

[@EL_394]

@@bmc8871 you side with the devil and shall be cast out with it