Lifestyle

Every so often, something happens reminding me of my father, who passed away over 16 years ago. Thinking back, he was the epitome of frugality.

The inquisitive nature of the human mind has been evident from the very beginning of time. After all, it was Lucifer playing upon Eve’s inquisitive nature that got us into the fallen predicament the world finds itself in today. Inquisition, nonetheless, has driven innovations ranging from the archaic wheel for a simple cart to the Sojourner Mars rover and beyond. Each step along the way has been possible only through the utility of the gift of observation. Not only was observation key to Galileo’s discovery of the moons of Jupiter in the early 17th century, but it was also key to Walther Flemming’s discovery of cell division in the late 19th century. However, it was a 20th-century philosopher of science named Karl Popper who modernized the scientific method and revolutionized the process of scientific discovery through the methodology of falsification.

Throughout my life, I have often heard people telling other people what they should be or do. I do not know where they get the right to say that about other people.

When questioned by a dying patient about his religious beliefs, physician Francia Collins stammered out the words “I’m not sure.” Collins, who in the moment was unable to provide a coherent response, said that the exchange with his patient “haunted” him for several days. “I was confident,” Collins recalled, “that a full investigation of the rational basis for faith would deny the merits of belief, and affirm my atheism.” With that goal in mind, he set out to indirectly prove atheism true by disproving God. In the end, the exact opposite happened. Francis Collins eventually converted to Christianity because of the rational basis for the faith, along with an indescribable impression left by an overwhelming religious experience. Very well and good for his conversion, certainly! However, my interest here lies in his initial defensive attempt to “reaffirm” his atheism.