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Asked by gummybearnibbler to Emma, Jimmy, Janet, Niall, Simon on 13 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by gingerscientist, yasmine23.
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James Holloway answered on 13 Mar 2013:
Well, science doesn’t give much room for maneuver with how the earth was created. We know how old it is, how the mountains and oceans are formed and all that stuff.
We also have good theories on the details of how a whole planet can gather together around a sun (that’s hard to prove though because non of us were there at the time).
How the universe began however is much less certain!
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Niall Crawford answered on 14 Mar 2013:
I choose to accept the facts that science has given us about how the world was made.
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Emma Ashley answered on 18 Mar 2013:
I also believe that science gives the best answer on how the world began.
Comments
yasmine23 commented on :
So are you all atheists? When you look at the universe, and all of the things within, don’t you ever wonder if there actually is a supreme being which has created it all? I mean, if you look at our human body, and you look at the precision to which it has been made, how could you believe that it was a Big bang which created it, just by chance; surely it was a supreme being which has created, how else?! Or for example, if you look at our planet, do you just believe it is just a coincidence that it is placed where it is? If we were a little further or closer to the sun, wouldn’t we burn/freeze? Don’t you ever consider that there must be something greater that has created this all, and not just science?
Jimmy commented on :
Hi yasmine23,
I do wonder these things, these are the great questions and I’ve spent many a night thinking about them 🙂
With the human body, at the tiny level, there are a surprising amount of flaws and mistakes. Our eyes for example, have the nerves running in front of the retina, where they get in the way. Squids have it the right way around with the nerves coming in from behind the retina. I don’t believe we accidentally fell together one day but instead that we gradually evolved over billions of years, there is tremendous amounts of evidence for this (fossil records, distribution of sickle cell anemia, MRSA spreading etc) and I can’t really deny it.
The example of the perfect conditions of Earth is a good one, what are the chances of having the right temperature, water content, gravity, mix of complex elements and everything needed for life? Extremely slim I’d say.
The thing to remember is that there are billions of billions of stars out there, many with planets. And for complex life to be able to evolve to look around and ask these questions then the conditions must be right for that life to evolve. So we could never of came about on those harsh rocky barren planets, we could only be on a planet that is perfect for us.
But everything I’ve said so far doesn’t make me an atheist. Just because life evolved doesn’t mean it wasn’t intended to. Just because there was a big bang doesn’t mean there wasn’t a god lighting the fuse. So yes I do consider there may be something bigger than us all who exists outside our universe somehow, but without proof either way I’ll remain agnostic 🙂
Jimmy commented on :
Wow sorry for the essay!
Niall commented on :
I agree with Jimmy, there are still a lot of fundamental questions which science really can’t answer – why does matter create gravity, etc etc. Science can only test things for an answer, so if we can’t test it we can’t answer it. I think theres no reason why religious stories cannot be metaphors for what really happened. I don’t think you have to believe in simply one or the other.