1. Taking Science on Faith

Comment #90428 by fragilex on November 25, 2007 at 5:43 am

Davies might have a point if scientists were actually treating the "multiverse" as an object of faith; however they are not. The existence of a multiverse violates no laws, it's consistent with current ideas in physics. Moreover, to argue that our universe is the only possible universe in existence would violate the principle of parsimony, since such an absolute exclusion would require extra explanation.

Most important, however, is the fact that scientists don't approach the concept of a multiverse with religious faith – they don't simply "believe in it" because they want to – it's a concept that's emerging from theories and explanations in physics, scientists are simply asserting that a multiverse is a reasonable possibility. Their strength of belief in a multiverse is in no way disproportional to the evidence emerging from inflationary theory.

2. A History of Violence

Comment #28886 by fragilex on March 31, 2007 at 1:26 pm

His book, "The Blank Slate," is still in my top ten books of the last ten years; a must read.