What Science Can't Tell You: Others

            Alrighty, this post sums up some of the other limitations of science:

1. Science can’t determine value. It can’t tell you which person is better-looking, which pianist is better, etc. That is more of a cultural/situational question.
2. Science can’t answer anything about morality, or prove or disprove that it exists. That’s more of an anthropological/sociological/theological question.
3. Science can’t prove or disprove the supernatural*, or really help in this area at all. That’s more of a theological/metaphysical question.
4. Science** can’t prove anything, period.

            Why did I list these shortcomings of science? Not because I dislike science, but because our culture worships it but doesn’t understand its boundaries. We trumpet scientific knowledge as absolute truth, while forgetting point #4. No one points out what we can’t learn from science. No one points out that what we do learn from science is subject to change.

            You’re welcome.

*Now, science cannot prove or disprove the supernatural. It can’t study the supernatural. It can, however, show that the most likely explanation to a situation is not physical. This is where a person’s worldview (Christianity or some other religion) steps in and says, “Ah, I can explain that.” Why is Jesus not in that tomb? Christianity explains that. How could the world come from nothing? Christianity explains that. Et cetera.

**People personify science. It drives me crazy in debates (“science shows…”), but for general discussion it’s easier than saying, “the scientific community believes that…”, or “scientists have done research…”. Never let a person personify science in a debate (because they are incorrect), but I generally do in these posts because that makes things simpler.