Week 10 - Religion & Science

Francis Collins

NIH head (2009-2021) faced backlash.

Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham

2014 debate on creationism's validity.

Steven Pinker

Proposed 'Reason and Faith' course at Harvard.

Religiosity

Higher religiosity correlates with lower analytical thinking.

System 1 vs. System 2

Cognitive conflict affecting reasoning and belief.

Conflict Perceptions

Focus on perceived conflict, not actual conflict.

Pew Research Center (2015)

Study showing religious beliefs affect conflict perception.

Western culture exposure

Increased exposure leads to heightened conflict perception.

Non-religious scientists

Reading about Collins reduces perceived conflict.

Negative stereotypes

Non-religious view Christians in science unfavorably.

Underrepresentation of Christians

Christians less present in science due to stereotypes.

AAAS article headline

Study on perceived compatibility of Christianity and science.

University science professors

84% identify as Christian, 93% see compatibility.

Scientific competence perceptions

Outcome measure of Christians' scientific abilities.

Secular science in US

Disproportionate number of secular scientists.

Belief in God statistics

80-90% Americans, 25% university faculty, 7% NAS.

Perceived value conflict

Conflict between religious values and scientific beliefs.

Simpson & Rios (2019)

Study on Christians' views of science's compatibility.

Stereotype threat

Fear of negative evaluation based on religion.

Scientific task performance

Lower performance linked to perceived incompatibility.

Nonsense syllogisms

Task used to measure scientific reasoning performance.

Christian scientists' beliefs

Perception of most scientists as atheists affects participation.