"There are times when science appears to be its own religion."
I'm not sure that's true. Some of the paradigms hang around a bit longer than they should (I don't know what you mean by "atomic theory", so can't comment specifically), but that's not usual.
(Hm. Let me rephrase that. In a sense, you want paradigms to hang around "a bit longer than they should" because you want to be reassured that whatever replaces them is pretty damn' good, not just the latest fad. But some have hung around longer than needed for that investigatory process to work its way through.)
Examining evidence in light of the currently accepted paradigm doesn't strike me as a matter of faith, or even as a faithlike activity. It's just a matter of making sure the advance of scientific knowledge actually is an advance.
no subject
"There are times when science appears to be its own religion."
I'm not sure that's true. Some of the paradigms hang around a bit longer than they should (I don't know what you mean by "atomic theory", so can't comment specifically), but that's not usual.
(Hm. Let me rephrase that. In a sense, you want paradigms to hang around "a bit longer than they should" because you want to be reassured that whatever replaces them is pretty damn' good, not just the latest fad. But some have hung around longer than needed for that investigatory process to work its way through.)
Examining evidence in light of the currently accepted paradigm doesn't strike me as a matter of faith, or even as a faithlike activity. It's just a matter of making sure the advance of scientific knowledge actually is an advance.