Alice:

. . . and so one second after the Big Bang the temperature of the universe was about ten thousand million degrees, which is about the same as the temperature in the middle of the explosion of a nuclear bomb.

Deb:

Do you really buy all that stuff? Don’t you think it’s a bit far-fetched?

Alice:

Of course I believe it, and I don’t think it is any more far-fetched than the fact that this table we are sitting at is almost all empty space and that it is made of atoms so tiny that millions of them could fit on the end of a pin.

Deb:

Exactly, it is just as far-fetched and you are just gullible for believing it.

Alice:

But that is what science tells us.

Deb:

‘Science’ doesn’t tell us anything; scientists, people like you or me, tell us things and like all people they tell us what is in their interest to tell us.

Alice:

What do you mean?

Deb:

Isn’t it obvious? A used-car dealer will tell you that a car is a lovely little runner with one previous owner because they want you to buy the car, priests tell you that you must come to church so you can go to heaven, because otherwise they would be out of a job, and scientists tell us all that nonsense so we will be amazed at how clever they are and keep spending taxpayers’ money on their research grants.

Alice:

Now you are just being cynical; First, I don’t think everybody lies or make up stories to get what they want. I don’t, do you? Not everyone is out for themselves you know. And second, I do personally experience technological advances everyday, that are the result of scientific discovery.

Deb:

And you are just being naïve; anyway, even supposing that scientists really believe their theories, can’t you see that science is just the modern religion?

Alice:

What do you mean?

Deb:

Well, if you were living five hundred years ago you would believe in angels and saints and the Garden of Eden; science has just replaced religion as the dominant belief system of the West. If you were living in a tribe in the jungle somewhere you would believe in whatever creation myths the elders of the tribe passed down to you, but you happen to be living here and now, so you believe what the experts in our tribe, who happen to be the scientists, tell us.

Alice:

You can’t compare religious dogma and myth with science.

Deb:

Why not?

Alice:

Because scientists develop and test their beliefs according to proper methods rather than just accepting what they are told.

Deb:

Well you are right that they claim to have a method that ensures their theories are accurate but I don’t believe it myself, otherwise they would all come to the same conclusions and we know that scientists are always arguing with each other, like about whether salt or sugar is really bad for you.

Alice:

Scientific arguments have more to do with interpretation of the data, and interpretation of the data could be unfortunately subjective to many aspects, regional, cultural, backgrounds, etc.. And it takes time for theories to be proven but they will find out eventually.

Deb:

Your faith is astounding – and you claim that science and religion are totally different. They are both as you just said very subjective. The scientific method is a myth put about by scientists who want us to believe their claims. Look at all the drugs that have been tested by scientific methods and pronounced safe only to be withdrawn a few years later when people find out how dangerous they are.

Alice:

Yes but what about all the successful drugs and the other amazing things science has done.

Deb:

Trial and error, that’s the only scientific method there is, it’s as simple as that. The rest is just propaganda.

Alice:

Trial and error. I can’t believe you really said that; scientific theories, like the Big Bang theory, are proved by many experiments and observations, by many people working in different fields of science. That is why we ought to believe them and that is what makes them different from creation myths and religious beliefs.

Deb:

So you say but how can experiments and observations prove a theory to be true?

Alice:

I suppose I don’t really know. But if experiments and observations agree with the theory, how can you say the theory is not true?

Deb:

We need to keep learning and talking about this. It is very interesting.