“Historical science is not worse, more restricted, or less capable of achieving firm conclusions because experiment, prediction, and subsumption under invariant laws of nature do not represent its usual working methods. The sciences of history use a different mode of explanation, rooted in the comparative and observational richness in our data. We cannot see a past event directly, but science is usually based on inference, not unvarnished observation (you don't see electrons, gravity, or black holes either).” DifferentUsePastLawBlackAchieveEventsCapableMethodExperimentsHolesConclusionObservationDataFirmExplanationUsualGravityRootedPredictionsLaws Of NatureRichnessBlack HoleElectronsInferencePast Events Author:Stephen Jay Gould
“there have been too many events in my life, and in the lives of my friends, which have defied any kind of scientific explanation. Science does not have appropriate tools for the dissection of the spirit.” KindDoeHas BeensSpiritSpiritualityEventsMy FriendsToolsExplanationAppropriateDissection Author:Jane Goodall
“The chief point we must remember is that the great and rapid advance of the physical sciences took place in fields where it proved that explanation and prediction could be based on laws which accounted for the observed phenomena as functions of comparatively few variables - either particular facts or relative frequencies of events.” FactsRememberLawEventsFieldsParticularFunctionChiefsExplanationRelativePredictionsRapidsFrequencyVariablesPhysical Science Author:Friedrich August von Hayek
“The argument from design is ultimately an appeal to miraculous causes, i.e., causes that do not, and cannot, occur in the natural course of events. This is why an explanation via design is not a legitimate alternative to scientific and other naturalistic modes of explanation. To refer to a miraculous cause is to refer to something that is inherently unknowable, and this sanctuary of ignorance explains nothing at all. However much it may soothe the imagination of the ignorant, it does nothing to satisfy the understanding of a rational person.” MayPersonsDoeCoursesCausesUnderstandingImaginationNaturalAtheismEventsDesignIgnoranceArgumentPositive AtheismIgnorantRationalAlternativesAppealsExplanationMiraculousSanctuary Book:Why Atheism? Source: Why Atheism?
“To those who are willing to believe, no explanation of these events is necessary...and to those who are not willing to believe, no explanation is possible.” BelieveEventsWillingAngelExplanationAngelic Author:Joan Anderson
“Sickness is real. However, I've seen too many people suffering with sicknesses not of their own choosing to say glibly that all sickness is caused by sin. On the other hand, to believe that sin does not exist and that all of our trials and tribulations have naturalistic explanations or are simply random events may cause us to miss the very solution we seek. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland observed that "too many people . . . want to sin and call it psychology."” PeopleWantBelieveMayDoeRealHandsSufferingCausesSinPsychologyMissingEventsSolutionsTrialsExplanationSicknessEldersTribulationTrials And TribulationsHollandRandom Events Author:Daniel K Judd
“We cannot imagine events that are connected non-causally and are capable of a non-causal explanation. But that does not mean that such events do not exist.” MeanDoeImagineEventsCapableConnectedExplanationMemories Dreams Reflections Book:Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal Source: Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal