# Perspectives on Discussion of Science and Religion

**URL:** <https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/perspectives-on-discussion-of-science-and-religion/17010>\
**Category:** Conversation\
**Tags:** Philosophy\
**Created:** [January 20, 2025, 7:52pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/perspectives-on-discussion-of-science-and-religion/17010 "2025-01-20T19:52:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 3

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**Author:** ![Don\_Mc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3e96dc/32.png) [@Don\_Mc](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/u/Don_Mc)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2025, 9:45pm UTC](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/perspectives-on-discussion-of-science-and-religion/17010/3 "2025-01-18T21:45:10Z")

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> [@Is there really information being conveyed within a cell?](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/is-there-really-information-being-conveyed-within-a-cell/16951/136):
>
> First, thanks for your post. It’s reasonable and thoughtful and maybe worthy of a thread on its own. The topic is not new here at PS, not hardly, but IMO it’s important and valuable to explore regularly.

Heartfelt thanks for that.

> [@Is there really information being conveyed within a cell?](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/is-there-really-information-being-conveyed-within-a-cell/16951/136):
>
> Re the comments about amino acids, I do think that was a mistake that is mostly due to this medium (quoting snippets from previous posts and responding to them). Nevertheless, IMO John was nitpicking and was careless, and I think there has been an overall failure to try to address simple comments (from @theaz101) in the spirit in which they were made. I might ask you to note that John corrected the mistake, and to further note that error correction is a theme of this part of the thread.

That’s fair. In fact I did notice where John made a correction and I probably should have mentioned it. I suppose it was the best immediate example I could find of the problem I was trying to address, and it seemed all the more relevant since I was addressing him specifically.

I would like to think that if John knew what people like me really thought of him he would soften his rhetoric a bit. My wife asked me why I get so nervous posting here and responding to people like John (or you and others here), and I told her, “These guys are not just exceptionally intelligent, they know so much more than I do that a lot of times it’s downright intimidating.” And of course reading insulting rhetoric, likening me to a third-grader for example, only makes that feeling worse.

> [@Is there really information being conveyed within a cell?](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/is-there-really-information-being-conveyed-within-a-cell/16951/136):
>
> A discussion of that specific topic, which might include examples that show my impression to be wrong, would be valuable IMO.

I can’t verify one way or the other, but suppose you’re right and they don’t own up to errors the way they should. I think it’s possible such failure is a symptom of the very problem under discussion; that is, maybe they think that if they do acknowledge errors (especially errors affecting their central argument) a sizeable segment of the scientific community, here and elsewhere, will ridicule them and show them no mercy. I honestly don’t know. From what I understand, though, the whole idea of Peaceful Science was to have a place where that would not happen.

But I agree that examples of them publicly self-correcting would be helpful, and in fact I hope some of them are following this conversation. If I may: Scripture says “Confess your sins to one another…that you may be healed.” Maybe acknowledging error, or even explaining why it’s so difficult to do so in the context of public evolution debates, would help heal the breach. In any case, I personally would love to see some of the more familiar ID people come back to the forum and participate the way they once did.

> [@Is there really information being conveyed within a cell?](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/is-there-really-information-being-conveyed-within-a-cell/16951/136):
>
> Is such dialogue “nearly impossible”? Call me naive and romantic (it happens a lot actually) but I disagree. Maybe one first step is to refuse to see another person as a member of a side or tribe, and to engage them as a human. Maybe a second step is to all agree that ideas are not protected or worthy of special respect, but that people are. And then maybe an additional critical step is to acknowledge and even expect people to fail, even spectacularly, and then expect them to apologize.

I would say that’s great advice, and well stated.

> [@Is there really information being conveyed within a cell?](https://discourse.peacefulscience.org/t/is-there-really-information-being-conveyed-within-a-cell/16951/136):
>
> Sorry for the long response; FWIW I thought you deserved one.

It’s worth plenty, thank you. And you’ll notice I’m not exactly averse to long responses. 😅

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