27 January 2010

Religious scientists

I asked, several times, in various forums, for an explanation of the fact that there are many scientists who are religious. One answer is that our milieu affects some more than others. So, some people, no matter how rational they may be in their field, cannot escape the prison they were thrown into at some point of their lives. Another answer lies in the meaning of the word "scientist".

Be it as it may, what we cannot infer from the fact that there are religious scientists is that religion and science are compatible. The mere fact that the intersection of the two sets is nonempty does not imply much.

Too many words for a simple idea, best explained here:

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T H E B O T T O M L I N E

What measure theory is about

It's about counting, but when things get too large.
Put otherwise, it's about addition of positive numbers, but when these numbers are far too many.

The principle of dynamic programming

max_{x,y} [f(x) + g(x,y)] = max_x [f(x) + max_y g(x,y)]

The bottom line

Nuestras horas son minutos cuando esperamos saber y siglos cuando sabemos lo que se puede aprender.
(Our hours are minutes when we wait to learn and centuries when we know what is to be learnt.) --António Machado

Αγεωμέτρητος μηδείς εισίτω.
(Those who do not know geometry may not enter.) --Plato

Sapere Aude! Habe Muth, dich deines eigenen Verstandes zu bedienen!
(Dare to know! Have courage to use your own reason!) --Kant