Can Science exist without Faith?

Maybe there is nothing more mysterious and confusing to many people than what faith really means and how it is exercised in our daily lives. I know many people who have a hard time understanding the nature of faith so hopefully I can dispel some of the confusion and lend a little clarity to the situation.

on Love

Lets start with Love, a big word but one we all seem to understand to varying degrees. To me the concept of liking something is a binary choice; you either like or dislike something. There is no varying degree of liking, just a pure black or white. Now, based on that like or dislike, the amount you'd be willing to sacrifice for something you like is love.

I like spinach pizza, and I would give up five dollars if I knew I could have spinach pizza for dinner. I would sacrifice five dollars for spinach pizza. I love it, though in the grand scheme of things relatively little.

I like my cat Jasmine, and if I was short on money I would sacrifice the amount of food I would eat in order to feed her. I would sacrifice more for her than I would for spinach pizza, therefore I love her more than I love spinach pizza.

I love my parents, and I would take a bullet aimed at either one of them without a moments hesitation. I love them more than my cat because I'm willing to wager my entire life and existence for them.

Love is the amount you are willing to wager to sacrifice for something, and because love is a wager it's an action and not an emotion or a feeling.

on Faith

Now about Faith, this works much the same way but in place of like we have belief, and in place of love we have faith. You either believe something or you don't, it's a binary choice; black or white.

I believe the sun will shine tomorrow because I trust the weather report, I'm willing to bet five dollars on it.

I have faith that this chair will hold me though I have never sat on it, based on what I know of other chairs. I'm willing to wager minor personal injury and humiliation in order to test that belief.

I believe this bridge can hold the weight of my car without collapsing, therefore I'm willing to wager my life on that belief when I have no proof, only evidence and past experience.

Did you see what happened? We exercise faith every day based on beliefs we hold without even hardly realizing it. Every time we cross a bridge or step out on a balcony we are putting our life on the line. That's a huge exercise of faith. So why is it that so many people understand and see love around them, but are completely blind to the concept of faith in their own daily lives?

on science and the supernatural

So here's where it gets confusing for a lot of people. Right now we can observe the natural world around us, the visible universe. Anything that exists beyond what we can see, is beyond the realm of the natural. Before we can find it, somebody, some scientist or doctor, holds a belief that something beyond what we already understand exists. They believe in something they do not yet have proof of, and exercise faith enough to test, observe, and discover that belief in order to extend our knowledge of the natural world. At this point it no longer becomes beyond our understood realm of knowledge, and is now added to the realm of the natural world.

If science is about expanding our understanding of the world around us and testing and verifying new laws and discoveries, then the entire study of science demands belief in the supernatural, and the faith to discover what we can't see isn't based on our rational and current understanding of the natural world. Science itself thrives on faith and without it no progress could be made.

Scientific discovery depends on faith and belief in the supernatural.