Frogberto
Scholar
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2006
- Messages
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The weekend before last, I attended the Skeptics Society Debate between Frank Tipler and Laurence Krauss. It was the end of the 15th year of lectures (my 10th year of going), and this particular "debate" was billed as follows:
A Great Debate:
Can Physics Prove
God & Christianity?
Event Date: June 3, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Location: Baxter Lecture Hall
Speakers:
Dr. Frank Tipler, Professor of Mathematical Physics at Tulane University and the author of The Physics of Christianity, The Physics of Immortality, and The Anthropic Cosmological Principle
Dr. Lawrence Krauss is Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics at Case Western Reserve University, and the author of Hiding in the Mirror, Atom, Quintessence, and The Physics of Star Trek.
In his book, The Physics of Christianity, Dr. Tipler argues that the God depicted by Jews and Christians, the Uncaused First Cause, is completely consistent with the Cosmological Singularity, an entity whose existence is required by physical law. He makes the case for the scientific possibility of miracles, including the Virgin Birth (Jesus was a rare XX male), the Resurrection (a baryon-annihilation process converting flesh into neutrinos), and the Incarnation (reversing the dematerialization process). Tipler outlines practical experiments that can help prove the validity of the “miracles” at the heart of Christianity.
Dr. Krauss, an expert on cosmology, quantum mechanics, and general relativity, is quite familiar with Tipler’s arguments and will provide a cogent response and argue that the scientific evidence from these fields, upon which Tipler rests his case, do not confirm the central tenets of Christianity or any other religion, and that attempts to employ science in the service of religion are doomed to failure. Science and religion, Krauss believes, are best kept separate, and that the tools of science that search for naturalistic explanations cannot be used to prove the supernatural.
A few photographs from the debate:
Dr. Tipler:
Dr. Krauss:
Tipler's strategy was to throw as many formulas, physics discussions, and boring black text on white background slides as the crowd could handle without dozing off, and then claiming that his points were proven, as shown by his last slide:
I think a lot of people just said "huh"? The desired effect, I think, was to say "wow, this guy knows physics, so I'll trust that he must be right." That may work in a lot of other audiences, but not necessarily in this one.
Dr. Krauss clearly "won" this debate, and his talk was a pleasure to listen to, respectful, but clear, and with interesting examples from astronomy and physics to make his point(s) without confusion.
I did stay for the question and answer, and I do have to say, I expected this crowd to tear Tipler a new one - but they were respectful and inquisitive about his arguments.
Congratulations to the Skeptics Society on 15 years of lectures at Cal-Tech, in Pasadena. I always enjoy hanging out on this beautiful campus, so I took some additional photos. Enjoy:
A Great Debate:
Can Physics Prove
God & Christianity?
Event Date: June 3, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Location: Baxter Lecture Hall
Speakers:
Dr. Frank Tipler, Professor of Mathematical Physics at Tulane University and the author of The Physics of Christianity, The Physics of Immortality, and The Anthropic Cosmological Principle
Dr. Lawrence Krauss is Professor of Physics and Astronomy and Director of the Center for Education and Research in Cosmology and Astrophysics at Case Western Reserve University, and the author of Hiding in the Mirror, Atom, Quintessence, and The Physics of Star Trek.
In his book, The Physics of Christianity, Dr. Tipler argues that the God depicted by Jews and Christians, the Uncaused First Cause, is completely consistent with the Cosmological Singularity, an entity whose existence is required by physical law. He makes the case for the scientific possibility of miracles, including the Virgin Birth (Jesus was a rare XX male), the Resurrection (a baryon-annihilation process converting flesh into neutrinos), and the Incarnation (reversing the dematerialization process). Tipler outlines practical experiments that can help prove the validity of the “miracles” at the heart of Christianity.
Dr. Krauss, an expert on cosmology, quantum mechanics, and general relativity, is quite familiar with Tipler’s arguments and will provide a cogent response and argue that the scientific evidence from these fields, upon which Tipler rests his case, do not confirm the central tenets of Christianity or any other religion, and that attempts to employ science in the service of religion are doomed to failure. Science and religion, Krauss believes, are best kept separate, and that the tools of science that search for naturalistic explanations cannot be used to prove the supernatural.
A few photographs from the debate:
Dr. Tipler:
Dr. Krauss:
Tipler's strategy was to throw as many formulas, physics discussions, and boring black text on white background slides as the crowd could handle without dozing off, and then claiming that his points were proven, as shown by his last slide:
I think a lot of people just said "huh"? The desired effect, I think, was to say "wow, this guy knows physics, so I'll trust that he must be right." That may work in a lot of other audiences, but not necessarily in this one.
Dr. Krauss clearly "won" this debate, and his talk was a pleasure to listen to, respectful, but clear, and with interesting examples from astronomy and physics to make his point(s) without confusion.
I did stay for the question and answer, and I do have to say, I expected this crowd to tear Tipler a new one - but they were respectful and inquisitive about his arguments.
Congratulations to the Skeptics Society on 15 years of lectures at Cal-Tech, in Pasadena. I always enjoy hanging out on this beautiful campus, so I took some additional photos. Enjoy:
