Materialist

(Re-post from December 2016)

"The human race is just a chemical scum on a moderate-size planet." Science expert and extremely smart guy Stephen Hawking said this, so of course it must be true . . right? No, that's actually a big philosophical claim, not an evidence-based scientific conclusion.

Celebrities and experts can be (gasp) wrong, especially when they speak outside their field of expertise. Hawking's claim is that humanity has no transcendent meaning or importance, that there's nothing more to a human being than the chemicals that make up the body.

It's the point of view - the faith - of a materialist. Science icon and materialist Carl Sagan expressed it this way, "The cosmos is all that is, or ever was, or ever will be." His claim is backed by charisma, rhetoric, and celebrity prestige. But not by facts.



It's a faith claim coming from his chosen point of view. It's his opinion that nothing - and no One - exists except the natural universe.

(cont'd tomorrow)