10/09/14 Cristal Kim

In Sam Harris' TED talk, he argues that although, religion and science has been thought to be opposite ends of the spectrum and science could never answer the questions religion is believed able to, science should be the standard of which we measure our issues to. Science is not restricted to facts; it can address the issues of morality and our constant struggle with mortality through the process of defining what is right and what is wrong. I found this argument interesting because Harris argues that there is no gray area when it comes to human life. Science has always been black and white while humanity ranges on the grayscale; but in Harris' discussion, he argues that all humanity should be subjected to either right or wrong, there can be no middle ground. He states this is the first step to integrating science into the battle of good and evil. He draws evidence from the use of corporal punishment and how we know its wrong; there is no middle ground about this issue and yet the bible condones this behavior and 21 different states legally allow teachers to physically discipline students. Although, Harris has relevant points, I disagree with him that everything is black and white. I strongly believe some things are ambiguous and there can be no one generally correct answer. The evidence he uses is much too extreme; of course, corporal punishment is wrong but it is on the far end of the spectrum. For example, soldiers who suffer from PTSD but not physical disabilities, are not rewarded the Purple Heart, yet does that make their service less important? Do they not suffer as well? I agree, we should not completely exclude science from our lives and beliefs, but not everything can be completely solved scientifically nor does it have one definite answer.