Mr. Tea
Let's Talk About Ceps
Ahh, OK - by 'make logical sense' I meant 'is consistent with logic and mathematics'. I did *not* meant 'conform to common sense', which has very little to do with logic (eg. computers operate on principles of pure logic, yet they have no common sense whatsoever).
For example, Newton's laws made perfect logical 'sense' when he formulated them, even though they violated the 'common sense' view at the time that a moving object will eventually stop if there's no force pushing it along.
Two hundred years later Newton's ideas (which had become 'common sense' to physicists) were superceded by Einstein's, who'd found that logical inconsistencies arise if you try to combine the Newtonian idea of absolute space and time with Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. Einstein's theories, which were at first deeply counterintuitive despite being logically sound, eventually became 'common sense' (again, to physicists), and so on and so forth.
It's the fact that accepted scientific ideas evolve (largely) through rational processes that distinguish them from religion, which does not really 'evolve' at all (Christians today largely believe the same things they did 1,900 years ago: scientists do not), but changes by the 'random mutation' of schisms, wars and so on (like Henry VIII breaking away from Rome so he could divorce his first wife and get his hands on the monasteries' cash, leading to the creation of the Church of England).
For example, Newton's laws made perfect logical 'sense' when he formulated them, even though they violated the 'common sense' view at the time that a moving object will eventually stop if there's no force pushing it along.
Two hundred years later Newton's ideas (which had become 'common sense' to physicists) were superceded by Einstein's, who'd found that logical inconsistencies arise if you try to combine the Newtonian idea of absolute space and time with Maxwell's theory of electromagnetism. Einstein's theories, which were at first deeply counterintuitive despite being logically sound, eventually became 'common sense' (again, to physicists), and so on and so forth.
It's the fact that accepted scientific ideas evolve (largely) through rational processes that distinguish them from religion, which does not really 'evolve' at all (Christians today largely believe the same things they did 1,900 years ago: scientists do not), but changes by the 'random mutation' of schisms, wars and so on (like Henry VIII breaking away from Rome so he could divorce his first wife and get his hands on the monasteries' cash, leading to the creation of the Church of England).