In the film Contact the relationship between science and religion is explored.
Jodie Foster plays the manically driven, ruthlessly logical scientific researcher searching for extra terrestrial life by wrangling time on some of the world's largest radio telescopes. However her driven nature, as is often the case, is partly as a result of a troubled childhood. She is really searching for answers having lost both of her parents to illness early in her life. An early interest, shared with her father, in amateur radio leads her to believe that the answers are out there and she is relentless in pursuit of this perceived truth.
Matthew McConaughey on the other hand is spiritually aware and writes about the impact of science and technology on our lives. He asks are we happier because of developments of science and technology or do we feel more alone. He is also searching for truth through spiritual discovery.
The interaction between these two characters provides the love interest and the film culminates with the scientist having a spiritual experience that cannot be scientifically verified as some of the evidence is suppressed. A leap of faith is required to trust our own experience over the scientifically verifiable.
In the modern world it is easy to assume that we know more than we do. As Sir Isaac Newton 1642-1727 famously observed after a lifetime of ground breaking scientific discovery "I seem to myself like a child playing on the sea shore, and picking up here and there a curious shell or pretty pebble, while the boundless ocean of truth lies undiscovered before me."
The Scientific Method
The method is designed for discerning the truth from delusions. The process is to observe some aspect of the universe, form a tentative hypothesis consistent with the observation, use it to make predictions and test them with experiments or further observations and modify the hypothesis in the light of your results. Repeat until there are no discrepancies between theory and experiment and/or observation. When consistency is obtained the hypothesis becomes a theory and provides a coherent set of propositions which explain a class of phenomena. A theory is then a framework within which observations are explained and predictions are made.
The modern world displays many of the benefits of scientific endeavor in healthcare, construction, farming, transport, technology and communications. The marvelous inventions that we enjoy were made possible through the application of scientific rigor. Understanding our environment enables us to manipulate it for our benefit. Science attempts to explain the nature of things and ultimately the nature of our existence.
However like most areas of human endeavor science has its limitations. Science hits its limitations at the quantum physics level where consciousness determines the reality as per the Schrodinger's cat experiment. Science helps us to determine the laws of nature and to put them to use. Science describes reality rather than creates it. The creation process is human endeavor putting scientific insights to use. Science is the how but not the why. So where is the initiator of the creation, growth and diversity of the universe? All things are encompassed by the creative process including ourselves. Consciousness creates the reality, science describes it. Science reveals the nature of creation, and the beauty of God.
The source of creation permeates all things and we are subliminally aware of this. Indeed we are participants in this creation and are co-creators ourselves. With this power comes responsibility. We are responsible for what we create. This is where religion comes in urging us to create good and wholesome realities by fostering and understanding of our true nature as spiritual beings. We are transient in this world and can never really own anything, merely controlling things for a while. Religion urges us to appreciate our true natures and the nature of the universe and to live our lives accordingly.
