SCIENTIFICALLY MINDED?

    Many people claim to be scientific in their thinking, yet some of them can be as hung up on their personal ideas as the most devout religious person. I have spoken to a number of very well educated people in my day who never heard of certain scientific discoveries or experiments that have been done in the laboratory. Some have said, "I've never heard of that, but if that is true, this changes everything. I will have to look that up." But then time goes by and they still have not looked it up. They're still adamant about a certain opinion that has been harpooned years ago. If we are going to truly be scientific individuals, we must have the presence of mind to look at both sides of the story. To read a favorite theory that strokes our ego and inflates our personal belief, and then ignore all evidence to the contrary, is not honest scientific research. Take for example, the topic of the near-death experience. Many still tout the belief that the NDE is nothing more than the symptoms of an oxygen deprived brain. They are completely unaware of the new research that has been done in this field that opens up many more questions on the subject than the old blanket theories can answer. Some say that science and religion are diametrically opposed to one another. Other say that they walk hand-in-hand. The truth is, sometimes they strangely agree, and many other times they do not. It is our job as individuals to do our own honest research. We cannot just settle on the opinions of a few or seek out the information that makes us feel good about our pet beliefs and perceptions. With the invention of the Internet and search engines like Google, anyone can have a plethora of scientific information at their fingertips in a matter of moments. It is up to each of us, to find that information and make his/her own decisions on the evidences given. And when we do this, it will not extinguish our faith and kill our spirituality. But rather it will broaden its horizons and make us even more open-minded as individuals.