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無知にも寛大な心を
説明の付かない事柄を説明するために
神の存在を持ち出したのはずっと昔のことだ。
21世紀の今、迷信に固執するのは止めるべきだろう。
Tolerationg our ignorance
Last month I wrote about "intelligent design" and encouraged readers to share their views. One person wrote to agree and said I should have mentioned certain aspects of the human reproductive system as further evidence that our design is not "intelligent." Indeed, I can think of two parts of my body that I'd rather have located in some other, more secure location!
An American teacher who uses this Opinion column in his classroom (thank you!) was shocked to learn that more Americans believe in creation than evolution. "I just couldn't bring myself ... to use this particular article because it's just too embarrassing," he wrote to me.
I also received mail from a couple of people who disagreed with what I wrote in my article. One of them sent me numerous quotes from scientists about how the theory of evolution cannot fully explain many things we see in the life on our planet.
Like this reader, the error that many creationists make is to assume that if Darwin is proved wrong, it bolsters their claim that God created everything. But that's not true. Disproving Darwin doesn't suggest that God created this world. It just means Darwin was wrong. These people fail to consider that a third possibility may exist that we simply don't yet understand.
Similarly, some argue that the incredible complexity of life "proves" that an intelligence of some kind is behind it. They cannot understand how our intricate organs and structures could have developed naturally over hundreds of millions of years. But not being able to comprehend or imagine something is not an argument against it. It just means you need to broaden your horizons!
Given the evidence, I think it's foolish not to consider that some form of evolution is the likely cause behind the diversity of life on Earth. But that doesn't rule out God. Why don't more people consider the possibility that it was God who started the process of evolution in the first place?
Not being able to understand something is disturbing. Many people believe (and I agree) that the notion of gods was created by ancient humans to explain things they couldn't explain, such as thunder and lightning or sickness and death. It's also psychologically more comforting to think that a supreme being is watching over you.
But that was ages ago. It's now the 21st century, and it disturbs me deeply that some still insist on using a deity to explain things not easily understood. Of course, the irony of this is that it actually explains nothing; it just creates an even tougher question in "Who created God?"
I've learned to become comfortable with the fact that I'm simply not going to be able to know or understand everything in this world, be it the origins of life, or how the CPU in my computer manages to do so much with a tiny silicon wafer. I only hope that others, too, can stop resorting to superstition to fill in the blanks.
(498 words)
Discussion:
Do you believe in God(s)? And how do this tie in with your views on evolution?
Shukan ST: Nov. 18, 2005
(C) All rights reserved
- ignorance
- 無知
- intelligent design
- ダーウィンの進化論に対し、何らかの知的設計者によって人間が生まれたとする論
- encouraged 〜 to share 〜
- 〜に〜を聞かせてほしいと言った
- should have mentioned 〜
- 〜に触れておくべきだった
- reproductive system
- 生殖器官
- two parts of my body
- の一部をさす
- creation
- 神による創造
- evolution
- 進化
- bring myself ... to 〜
- 〜する気になる
- this particular 〜
- この〜
- (is)embarrassing
- 当惑させられる
- numerous quotes
- 膨大な引用
- theory
- 理論
- life on our planet
- 地球上の生物
- creationists
- 創造論者
- assume that 〜
- 〜と決め付ける
- bolsters 〜
- 〜を強める
- claim
- 主張
- Disproving 〜
- 〜が誤りだと証明すること
- fail to 〜
- 〜できない
- incredible
- 信じられないほどの
- complexity
- 複雑さ
- intelligence of some kind
- 何らかの知性
- intricate organs and structures
- 複雑な器官と仕組み
- not being able to comprehend or imagine something is not an argument against it
- 何かを理解したり想像できないことは、それに対する反論にはならない
- horizons
- 視野
- Given the evidence
- 証拠を考慮すれば
- likely cause
- ありうる原因
- diversity
- 多様性
- rule out 〜
- 〜の可能性を除外する
- is disturbing
- 気がかりだ
- notion
- 概念
- supreme being
- 至高の存在(神)
- is watching over 〜
- 〜を見守っている
- deity
- 神
- irony
- 皮肉
- even tougher question
- さらなる難問
- be it 〜 or 〜
- 〜であれ〜であれ
- CPU
- 中央演算処理装置
- silicon wafer
- シリコンウェハ(薄い基板)
- resorting to 〜
- 〜に訴えること
- superstition
- 迷信
- fill in the blanks
- 答えを出す