Study 1: Earth has a special place in the Universe (perhaps in the center) in contradiction to the Copernican principle
"Earth may be trapped in an abnormal bubble of space-time that is particularly void of matter. Scientists say this condition could account for the apparent acceleration of the universe's expansion, for which dark energy currently is the leading explanation.From www.space.com
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One problem with the void idea, though, is that it negates a principle that has reigned in astronomy for more than 450 years: namely, that our place in the universe isn't special. When Nicholas Copernicus argued that it made much more sense for the Earth to be revolving around the sun than vice versa, it revolutionized science. Since then, most theories have to pass the Copernican test. If they require our planet to be unique, or our position to be exalted, the ideas often seem unlikely.
"This idea that we live in a void would really be a statement that we live in a special place," Clifton told SPACE.com. "The regular cosmological model is based on the idea that where we live is a typical place in the universe. This would be a contradiction to the Copernican principle.""
Study 2: Religious belief has medical benefits and helps reduce pain.
"Brain scans of volunteers who were subjected to electrical shocks revealed that Roman Catholics felt less pain than atheists and agnostics when they were shown a painting of the Virgin Mary."From www.guardian.co.uk
Just because Christians were right about these things thousands of years before these groundbreaking studies were conducted doesn't mean we should give up hope of atheism just yet. Remember, we still have the theory of evolution on our side, and no one has yet to challenge that!
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On the first one, it depends on the size of the bubble and how it is created. If multiple bubbles can and do exist then there is no violation of Copernicus' law. Then again they still need to prove the bubble exists in the first place. Should be interesting to see what happens.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't find the other article. Can you link it directly, Kaitlyn? Just from what you have said though, it sounds like placebo. So of course atheist/agnostics won't respond to a religious entity. I bet it would work with Hindus if you showed them pictures of Ganesh or Shiva.
Links to both articles are found right below each quote.
ReplyDeletesorry I am stupid I was typing the link in not clicking
ReplyDelete"The Roman Catholics engaged a brain mechanism that is well known from research into the placebo effect, analgesia and emotional disengagement," said Wiech. "It helps people to reinterpret pain, and make it less threatening. These people felt safe by looking at the Virgin Mary, they felt looked after, so the whole context of the test changed for them."
ReplyDeleteIf they knew the answer was going to be placebo effect, what was the point? I am very confused as to what the purpose of this study was.
They knew of the placebo effect, they didn't know for certain that the pain reducing effect of belief is the same effect.
ReplyDeleteNow they do.
Personally I think the current cosmological model is beginning to suffer from a few too many discrepancies. This is analogous to the black body radiation problem which eventually heralded the birth of quantum physics and then quantum mechanics.
ReplyDeleteI am fairly convinced that the current theory of gravity is fundamentally flawed and that the next great breakthrough in physics will involve a dramatic change in our understanding of gravity. [Disclaimer: I am not a theoretical physicist so my opinion is worth shit.]
As already mentioned, the Placebo effect explains point concerning Religious belief reducing pain.
ReplyDeleteThe recent experiment concerning prayer helping the sick was much more telling. Some of the financing was from Templeton, a devout religious man and stock genius. It was considered the most through and well developed experiment on the subject.
The experiment not only showed that it did not help at all, it also showed that portion of patients who were aware of the prayer got worse. This was thought to be because of the stress caused by those particular patients feeling they must be very ill if they are being prayed for.
Concerning the article about earth being in an abnormal bubble of space-time. This is only one possible hypothesis presented and is in no way validated at this point. If it were confirmed that we are in this bubble, claiming that the bubble is abnormal or that our section of the universe is the only place like this, is pure conjecture. This can no more be claimed than that we are the only life in the universe. As Ray would put it, You'd have to have infinite knowledge of the universe to make this claim.
Space.com was founded by CNN anchor Lou Dobbs and is a science news outlet. Its stories should not be taken as to having any more weight than a science piece on CNN.
The story is interesting and entertaining but I'd wait until I find articles or papers in reputable science journals before I take these claims seriously.
I suggest reading some of the comments readers have made, many suggest the same points.
~Atomic Chimp
Thanks Quasar, that makes a bit more sense.
ReplyDelete