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Why no Newton cult?

jlakbj

Thinker
J
Joined
Nov 22, 2002
Messages
157
Randi's juxtaposition of Isaac Newton with Jesus in this week's commentary made me wonder: why is Jesus the focal point of a worldwide religious movement but Newton isn't? Jesus may have been an innovator of social justice, and of course he supposedly pulled off a few nice parlor tricks, but Newton explained the laws of the universe. If you subscribed to the Intelligent Design theory, wouldn't you prefer Newton, Galileo et al as your prophets in place of Isaiah and Moses, and their sloppy, irrational Old Testament fantasies?

I guess my next question is: is it too late to start a Newton cult? How about an Einstein cult?

Jonathan

P.S. Yes, I've been reading a bit of Neal Stephenson this week...
 
Hmm...

Because Idol worship is illogical and counter-productive? If everyone worshiped some scientist even if he was consistently erroneous or illogical in his statements(even though they were revolutionary during his times) science would suck... just like <insert word here>.
 
I'm already in the John Coltrane cult.

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A big part of it too is that we know a good deal of Newton's flaws.

Such as where he railed against Leibnez.
Where he nearly went insane.
His constant personality conflicts.
etc.

Also, he did his work without the support of a supernatural diety.
 
Crossbow said:
A big part of it too is that we know a good deal of Newton's flaws.

Such as where he railed against Leibnez.
Where he nearly went insane.
His constant personality conflicts.
etc.
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You didn't mention that he devoted much of his life to alchemy. But I wonder, is that nearly so absurd in his time as it would be in ours? Can someone provide historical perspective?
 
hgc said:
You didn't mention that he devoted much of his life to alchemy. But I wonder, is that nearly so absurd in his time as it would be in ours? Can someone provide historical perspective?
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True enough, Newton was into all kinds of things.

One of them was making felt hats that were cured with mercury; any wonder why he nearly went bonkers?
 
It might require actually reading a lot of Newton, and let's be truthful, he's not exactly a page turner.

(neither is St. Paul, but he favored the short note instead of the lengthy treatise)
 
hgc said:
You didn't mention that he devoted much of his life to alchemy. But I wonder, is that nearly so absurd in his time as it would be in ours? Can someone provide historical perspective?
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Well, I don't know when specifically Alchemy really began to be viewed as a woo woo idea but even by the time of Newtons death modern ideas of Chemistry were still in their infancy. Newton died in 1727 and the modern definition of elements didn't emerge until the late 1600's. Robert Boyle, who classified elements as we know them today was also a believer in alchemy. So I likely alchemy wasn't too woo-woo a belief in his day, it was only just starting to become supplanted by modern chemistry at the time of his death.
 
The reason there's no Newton cult is not because of his personality or outside interests. It's because science is not about worshipping men or ideas. If Newton were worshipped then Einstein would have been burned at the stake as a heretic ;)
 
One of the primary characteristics of a cult is suppression of intellectual curiosity. Science is based on intellectual curiosity. The two are sorta incompatible.
 
Keziah Mason said:
The reason there's no Newton cult is not because of his personality or outside interests. It's because science is not about worshipping men or ideas. If Newton were worshipped then Einstein would have been burned at the stake as a heretic ;)
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Keziah's hitting on my point here. Of course we skeptics here would never do anything so foolish.

But what about religious (naive, misguided, take your pick) people? Why wouldn't any of them seize on Newton as a divinely inspired prophet? Seems like the idiosyncracies others have mentioned in this thread would only help his cause with the woo-woos. :) Or does the fact that his claims were supported by actual evidence take him out of consideration?
 
But what about religious people? Why wouldn't any of them seize on Newton as a divinely inspired prophet?
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Divinely inspired prophets aren't allowed to be shown incorrect or incomplete. Divinely inspired prophets aren't allowed to be questioned. The religious will thus stay very far from anyone involved with science when looking for a divinely inspired prophet.
 
I think we're forgetting what we actually worship here
Some Atheists seem to worship Hawking and Sagan. Many Atheists seem to worship the Big Bang Theory as a “spiritual being”. Just like all the Discordians you seem to be vague on the definitions when it suits your subjective whim.
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Elsewhere we're said to worship the laws of physics. So, probably we are part of some big cult of Newton.

See here, Private Hargrove: (I have to edit out that link - I think I broke something. Besides, as the Esteemed Sgt. Wit says, "never mind")
 
T'ai Chi said:
quote:
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Originally posted by Crossbow

Also, he did his work without the support of a supernatural diety.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



What do you mean by this?
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What part of the statement do you not understand?
 
[mode=sarcasm]
I'm having problems understanding the term "supernatural diety". I mean, I lost weight pretty quickly on the Atkins diet, but I wouldn't call it supernatural.

Also, does "diety" mean it's diet-like?
[/mode]
 
Upchurch said:
[mode=sarcasm]
I'm having problems understanding the term "supernatural diety". I mean, I lost weight pretty quickly on the Atkins diet, but I wouldn't call it supernatural.

Also, does "diety" mean it's diet-like?
[/mode]
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What is the nature of regular deities? You know, the ones who aren't supernatural..
 
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