Science & Reason

It's just common sense to use common sense.

     

     Nowadays, your gut feeling usually is the correct one; your first reaction is the right reaction. But that wasn't widely accepted, as it is today, when the the idea of reason appeared in the 1600s. A man named Galileo stood out and challenged the traditional beliefs of the time; because he had a gut feeling. And he wasn't the first. Galileo believed, like the Greeks before him, that the Sun was the centre of the universe, not the Earth, after being able to look at the night sky with the telescope. His feeling enticed him to say, "In my studies of astronomy and philosophy I hold this opinion about the universe, that the Sun remains fixed in the centre of the circle of heavenly bodies, without changing its place; and the Earth, turning upon itself, moves round the Sun" (todayinsci.com). The relatively new idea of heliocentrism was extremely controversial because in the 17th century, anything that opposed the ideas of the Roman

Catholic church was seen as treason-like. Although this new idea of using science and reason as explanations only really started to emerge in the 1600s, it didn't become popular until the 1700s. Kings such as Louis XIV of France started using science and reason, and the idea of heliocentrism to run their nations. Absolutism rose to power with rulers, however, none more so than Louis. The king of France was quoted as saying, "I am the state" because he used the idea of heliocentrism to rule France: Much like the sun being the centre of the universe, he sought out to be the centre of France. Almost like putting himself on a pedestal, with all his citizens underneath him.

     But just like Galileo challenged the church, so did Charles Darwin, however, not only disproving their beliefs, but the entire structure of any religion altogether. Darwin discovered that animals had evolved from descendants and adapted to their environment. With his new discovery, Darwin's ideas are the most logical to date, helping to prove that science and reason perfectly explains common sense.

     Furthermore, in the early 20th century, Albert Einstein introduced his theory of special relativity, which states that the laws of physics are the same for all non-accelerating observers. In short, this new theory helped to even further prove that science is the foremost method of reason and thinking to this day, rather than faith or belief.

     As for the future of science and reason, Beatles' John Lennon said it perfectly. His famous quote that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus, accurately predicts that science and reason will take over as explaining moral thinking. As Lennon said,

"Christianity will go... it will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue that. I'm right and I'll be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now. I don't know which will go first, rock 'n' roll or Christianity". I believe he is absolutely right. More and more people are refraining from going to church and even practicing a religion altogether, leaving science and reason as the ultimate explanation. Common sense will, and already has started to, overtake faith and belief as general knowledge.                             










Galileo Photo http://www.historytoday.com/sites/default/files/telescope.jpg

Louis XIV Photo http://jmccrackenworld.com/Charles_Stuart_II_painting_2.jpg

John Lennon Photo
http://feelgrafix.com/data_images/out/22/937838-john-lennon.jpg

http://www.todayinsci.com/G/Galilei_Galileo/GalileiGalileo-Quotations.htm

Haberman, Arthur. "The Modern Age: Ideas in Western Civilization". Toronto: Gage Educational Publishing, 1987.