The Final Word: Prisoners of Our Own Device
Steve Donaldson
Steve Donaldson, Ph.D., is Professor of Computer Science and Senior Fellow in the Center for Science and Religion at Samford University.
Abstract: Over-confidence in a set of beliefs is frequently buttressed by a binary mentality and, strangely for Christians, a microscopic view of God. Such misplaced assurance can quickly lead to a fixed outlook that assumes an aura of irrefutable permanence. That humans gravitate toward rigid ways of thinking is unremarkable, but it is especially surprising how many educated individuals seem trapped in a perpetually decaying orbit about their pet theories and theologies. For scientists, theologians, and philosophers purportedly engaged in a search for truth, this is a particularly troubling state of affairs and is the root of much unnecessary conflict at
the interface of the disciplines.
Key Words: binary fallacy, size of God, interdisciplinarity, freedom, constraint, philosophy of science, Christianity
