Beliefs

• Many positive impacts of science include medicine, workplace improvements, higher standards of living, and increased faith in science.
• Science has led to technological developments which have improved working conditions and productivity.
• During the pandemic, people believed in science, which they thought had the power to pull us out of the pandemic, such as in their faith in the vaccine and in new anti-viral drugs.
• Developments in transport, means of communication, food production etc have led to a higher quality of life.
• Science has been extremely successful in explaining and changing the world because it is an open system.
• Scientific theories are falsifiable — they can be tested to see if they can be proven false.
• Scientific theories, unlike religious ones, are not ‘ holy ’ — they can and should be challenged.
• The earth being flat theory was replaced by the idea that the earth is spherical.
• The atom being analogous to a plum pudding theory was replaced by the Bohr model.
• Science can only function if it receives support from other institutions and values.
• Like Popper, Merton argues that science needs an ‘ ethos ’ or set of norms with the goal of increasing scientific knowledge.
• CUDOS Norms include Communism, Universalism, Distinterestedness, and Organised Scepticism.
• Religion makes claims about the world, but it is not the only ‘ belief system ’ to do this.
• Functionalism: Religion is a conservative force that maintains the status quo, social solidarity, and value consensus.
• Science, ideology, and religion may not be so different from one another after all.
• Durkheim: Religion is a social cement that helps create social solidarity, promoting shared norms and values, and reducing disruption.
• Scientific knowledge is open to challenge and potentially disprovable, whereas religion claims knowledge is perfect/sacred/infallible.
• Malinowski: Religion promotes social solidarity in times of uncertainty and life crises, tying people together and stabilising individuals.
• Horton argues that science and religion are fundamentally very different.
• Some sociologists argue that religion has a dual character: its beliefs can have both a negative impact on social change and a positive impact, for example by inspiring protest against the status quo.
• Religious beliefs can be a force for social change.
• The beliefs of some other major religions have acted as a barrier to such change.
• According to Weber, Calvinist Protestant beliefs in the 16th century were crucial in bringing about the mergence of modern capitalism in Western Europe.
• Parsons: Religion legitimises society's central values by sacralising them, and is a primary source of meaning that answers the 'ultimate' questions of life.
• Science is seen as an ‘ open ’ belief system, allowing change and growth.
• In contrast, religion and magic are seen to be a ‘ closed ’ belief system — this prevents change and growth.
• Marxism: Religion is a conservative force that maintains capitalism and reduces the chances of a revolution, perpetuating class inequality and allowing the ruling class to continue to benefit.
• Religion and magic make knowledge claims that are hard to be overturned/falsified.
• Marx: Religion serves the interests of the ruling class who control economic production and the production and distribution of ideas in society.
• Whenever fundamental beliefs are threatened, a closed belief system has a number of get out clauses which prevent these beliefs from being disproved.
• Religion is an ideological weapon used by the ruling class to justify the suffering of the working class, tricking them into thinking their suffering in this world will lead to a favourable afterlife.
• Science is socially constructed, as is religion.
• People often consider science as 'natural' and outside of human creation, however interpretivists point out that humans have also created the belief system of science.
• The belief system of witchcraft is a closed belief system that is highly resistant to challenge.
• Science is not an open belief system, it is instead more like religion in that it is a closed belief system.
• Dr Velikovsky put forward a new theory in 1950 on the origins of the earth, which challenged many of the fundamentals of geology, astronomy and evolutionary biology.
• If the chicken dies, the answer is yes.
• If a snake bit you when walking down a path, this would not be explained as 'bad timing/coincidence' but instead as evidence of someone practicing witchcraft against them.
• Christianity can also be seen as resisting challenge in the same way.
• Kuhn provides an explanation to why scientists refused to consider Dr Velikovsky's theory.