Event Title
Uncertainty
Presenter Status
Emeritus Professor of Physics
Location
Biology Amphitheater, Price Hall
Start Date
24-10-2015 11:45 AM
End Date
24-10-2015 12:15 PM
Description
Uncertainty and Doubt are different concepts. If we are certain that our methods and ideas are valid, but find that they do not agree with our observations we may doubt the validity of the observations. If we accept our observations as valid, but they do not agree our ideas concerning reality and methods of observing, then we must recognize that the state of our knowledge is uncertain. We must then move to a new state of knowledge about reality, which will bring us closer to truth. In the talk I will outline specific examples of this process that have taken place historically and look specifically at the overlap of religion and science that has occurred.
Uncertainty
Biology Amphitheater, Price Hall
Uncertainty and Doubt are different concepts. If we are certain that our methods and ideas are valid, but find that they do not agree with our observations we may doubt the validity of the observations. If we accept our observations as valid, but they do not agree our ideas concerning reality and methods of observing, then we must recognize that the state of our knowledge is uncertain. We must then move to a new state of knowledge about reality, which will bring us closer to truth. In the talk I will outline specific examples of this process that have taken place historically and look specifically at the overlap of religion and science that has occurred.
Comments
Carl Helrich is the director of the Midwest Religion and Science Society as well as the Goshen Conference on Religion and Science. Helrich received his PhD in physics from Northwestern University, writing his dissertation on theoretical plasma physics. He is author of Modern Thermodynamics with Statistical Mechanics, The Classical Theory of Fields, and Analytical Mechanics (forthcoming). Helrich has taught at the University of Tennessee Space Institute, Bethel College, and, most recently, Goshen College where he is now emeritus professor of physics.