Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!cca!charlie From: charlie@cca.UUCP (Charlie Kaufman) Newsgroups: net.religion,net.misc Subject: Earth Centered Universe Message-ID: <5146@cca.UUCP> Date: Thu, 14-Jul-83 12:43:52 EDT Article-I.D.: cca.5146 Posted: Thu Jul 14 12:43:52 1983 Date-Received: Thu, 14-Jul-83 19:39:44 EDT Lines: 17 I find it interesting to watch the "science" contingent make fun of the "religion" contingent based on the biblical statement of an earth centered universe when "everyone knows" the earth spins, it orbits the sun, which orbits the galaxy... What's amusing is that scientific doctrine has changed and no one seems to have noticed. According to relativity theory, which is not wholly accepted, but is the current most widely recognized model of physics, there is no prefered frame of reference. This means that a stationary earth (the universe spins around it) is as valid a model as any other. In my mind, the thing which distinguishes science from religion is that scientists don't claim to know anything "for sure". Contrary evidence is always being sought and new "facts" created. A "fact" is simply a theory with a high degree of confidence. A corollary is that science cannot "prove" any (religious or otherwise) statement false. Scientists might reasonably challenge the methods by which a conclusion is reached, but not the conclusion itself.