I found Professor Goldish’s talks about controversial debates in religion and science tiring. The speech was insightful and taught me so many things I didn’t know, especially from a new astronomical perspective, but the topic was tiring to me. It seems immensely repetitive that religion and science won’t coexist even today and it is so overplayed and just unnecessary feuding between potential fields that can benefit for one another. I liked his answer to my question about how to discover new information on a scientific research project, some scientists will take a theological approach. The open-mindedness of this is refreshing because the prejudice between the two only hold the people in each fields back from breakthroughs. My favorite part of his speech was the sneaky under-minded work of Galileo publishing in “Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief Systems of the World” that the ideas of the Pope resembled a simpleton. It was dangerous, under-minded, and bold. I also enjoyed his explanation of elliptical orbitals and what retrograde actually meant.
I can see your perspective, Alicia, that the clash between the two is tiring. I would guess that you have found a way in your own life for the two viewpoints to co-exist. Perhaps, the argument is still waging mostly between those on the extreme sides of both disciplines. I think Dr. Goldish is coming down in the middle here with his argument that the war is overblown. I would have been interested for someone to ask him his own religious views as I suspect he may also be one that has learned to incorporate both worldview into his own.