Thank you wafflehead. Maybe the question that I raised just comes down to a play on words, but I find it interesting
I believe that a scientist requires faith as a major ingredient in toiling for an outcome. What starts as an idea, progresses to a hypothesis and if proven and peer reviewed becomes a fact or a theory. Without faith a human becomes a machine. Some work for decades on a single problem, surely faith is the driving force here.
In my view a driving force to understand the universe, from the large to the very small, is the main driving force.
I don't think we require faith to avoid becoming like a machine. I think that we become machine like if we just repeat the same thing over and and over again, day after day without questioning. I like science because it encourages questioning.
If we act on faith (ie assuming absolute certainty), I think we set ourselves up for failure, if we turn out to be wrong.
I believe the work of any scientist labouring for the good of humankind, their efforts will be considered as no less than worship.
I don't consider myself religious, but go along with this.
I recall reading extracts from a person who wrote a book (or books) about a purpose-fulled life. While I thought that a lot of what he wrote is naive, his remark that worship extends to what we do for others. This, in my opinion, carries far more weight than what is generally regarded as worship at meetings on holy days.
