• Question: Are you religious and if so does if affect your views on science or your work?

    Asked by jpriestley to Andrew, Emma, Marianne on 17 Jun 2010 in Categories: . This question was also asked by buzzers.
    • Photo: Andrew Maynard

      Andrew Maynard answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Hi jpriestley,

      I used to be what you might call very religious when I was younger. But as I’ve got older, my views have changed. What I would say is that my beliefs affect how I do my work, but not how I interpret the results of my work.

      Science is all about getting to a greater understanding of how things work through a process of questioning and testing. This is something I hold to very strongly – if the evidence says something is so, it’s foolish to deny it – even if it seems to contradict firmly held beliefs!

      But the way we live our lives and do our work depends on more than evidence – and this is where I would say I have a personal philosophy more than a belief that determines how I do my work.

    • Photo: Marianne Baker

      Marianne Baker answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Hi jpriestley (convenient name for this Q?!)

      Nope I’m not religious at all so no effect!

    • Photo: anon

      anon answered on 17 Jun 2010:

      Have you read Philip Pullman (His Dark Materials and the good man jesus and the scoundrel christ)? If not I would recommend them for the way in which they discuss religion. I don’t find them blasphemous but I do think they make the point that ‘the Church’ often ends up doing a lot of things that the religion wouldn’t condone. I think it’s important to have an ethico-moral framework and i don’t think that needs religion (Richard Holloway writes well about this) but I think the fact that a lot of excellent people find that framework within a religion is just fine. I haven’t found my science/work to be influenced by religion.

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