“I am a collection of water, calcium, and organic molecules... Some people find this idea somehow demeaning to human dignity. For myself, I find it elevating that our universe permits the evolution of molecular machines as intricate and subtle as we." Carl Sagan

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[–]zyxzevn 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

The Church of Scientism

Addition:
I don't want to sound to negative.
Reductionism and materialism are great methods to deal with a material related problem.
But it also avoids us seeing influences that are not so physical.

A great example is the idea of multiple dimensions.
We can perfectly describe the movement of balls on a pool table in 2D. But we all know that the balls are 3D. We even have players that play the game.

The same is for the physical world: we can have a near-perfect model in 3D/4D. But it is very possible to have more dimensions that influence us. We can also have "players" that play with our physical world, to create life or to create consciousness. In some models, consciousness is the player.

Addition 2:

Science as Faith: Sheldrake

[–]Tom_Bombadil 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

Fun fact:

This is a revised version. The first time was when his wife walked in on him with another woman.
Mrs Sagan screamed, "Carl what are you doing?!"

Sagan replied, "I'm not Carl, I am a collection of water, calcium, and organic molecules..."

And he was surprised when his wife accepted this response and walked away.

He realized that most of the world would frown upon the circumstances of his epiphany, so he attempted to omit the first part from history.

[–]zyxzevn 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

That is humour!

[–]Tom_Bombadil 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Prescious gems of history... ;-)

I was trying to find a reductionist application which was also socially relevant.

Leave it to Carl to cleverly bridge the gap.