Science Network, an educational organization based in California, recently sponsored a La Jolla, California conference entitled “Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival.” According to this article [1], the conference rapidly escalated into an invigorating intellectual free-for-all.”
You can watch videos of the sessions here. [2] The speakers were numerous well-credentialed scientists and philosophers, including each of the following:
Steven Weinberg
LawrenceKrauss
Sam Harris
Michael Shermer
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Joan Roughgarden
Richard Dawkins
Francisco Ayala
Carolyn Porco
Stuart Hameroff
V.S. Ramachandran
Paul Davies
Steven Nadler
Patricia Churchland
Susan Neiman
Loyal Rue
Elizabeth Loftus
Mahzarin Banaji
Scott Atran
Sir Harold Kroto
Charles Harper
Ann Druyan
Jim Woodward
Paul Churchland
Richard Sloan
Terry Sejnowski
What was the bottom line of the conference? Watch the sessions and see! I haven’t yet watched most of the conference yet, though I do plan to watch them all. If you click in, you’ll immediately notice the consistently high quality discussion throughout the conference.
In her talk, Patricia Churchland argued that “What we care about sets the framework for what we value. Evolution see to it that we care about food, water, oxygen, sex, surviving. Social animals also care about offspring, mates, parents and kin.” Consequently, the traditional philosophical claim that you cannot derive an ought from an is, is “wrong.” We don’t need an overriding value system in order to know how to behave well. Morality is in us, configured by robust biological triggers. Her bottom line: you “don’t have to scare the crap out of people” to get them to get along with each other.
Neil Tyson’s talk was terrific, in that it was both entertaining and provocative (see the video from the second day of the conference). Wonderful comments by the panel and the audience. Notice his photos of horribly mal-formed babies (many stillborn, one with a heart outside of its body), used to illustrate the falsity of Intelligent Design. He makes the point that “The universe is not here for us.” Further, “God is not responsible for what we don’t understand.”
The conversation then leads to this: what can science do about leading the charge against superstitution? What kind of PR campaign can be effective? Stephen Weinberg was cautious about the limits of science in providing the basis for morality. He asked, “If not religion, what?” His own answer: The answer won’t be science.
Tyson’s session included especially insightful comments by Patricia Churchland, Scott Atran, Michael Shermer, Sam Harris and others.
Here’s another quote from the NYT article, regarding the manner in which Tyson’s session wrapped up:
Before he left to fly back home to Austin, Dr. Weinberg seemed to soften for a moment, describing religion a bit fondly as a crazy old aunt. “She tells lies, and she stirs up all sorts of mischief and she’s getting on, and she may not have that much life left in her, but she was beautiful once,” he lamented. “When she’s gone, we may miss her.”
Dr. Dawkins wasn’t buying it. “I won’t miss her at all,” he said. “Not a scrap. Not a smidgen.”
For more articles on the conference, as well as a separate link to the videos, check the Edge’s site. [3]
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