{"id":5947,"date":"2022-06-04T00:01:11","date_gmt":"2022-06-04T00:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/?p=5947"},"modified":"2024-05-22T02:17:37","modified_gmt":"2024-05-22T02:17:37","slug":"curiosity-and-science-intent-and-wisdom-1122","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/curiosity-and-science-intent-and-wisdom-1122\/","title":{"rendered":"Curiosity and Science, Intent and Wisdom 11:22"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bonhams.com\/auctions\/11959\/lot\/149\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20220318ff\/20220531-LouisWilliamWain-ACuriousCat-ViaBonhams-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Louis William Wain's (1860-1939) 'A curious cat.' Originally a gift from the artist to Ernest Ralph, Wain's barber in Napsbury. (ca. 1930)\"><\/a><br><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">(From Bonhams auction house, used w\/o permission.)<\/span><br>(Louis William Wain&#8217;s &#8220;A curious cat.&#8221; (ca. 1930))<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As a behavior, curiosity is part of being a rat, a cat, or a human.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In humans, at least, it&#8217;s also an emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether the decline in curiosity exhibited by many of us as we mature is a natural process, or is the result of education<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/curiosity-and-science-intent-and-wisdom-1122\/#1\">1<\/a><\/sup> \u2014 that&#8217;s a can of worms I&#8217;ll ignore today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Cultural values very likely also encourage, or discourage, curiosity. Happily, there&#8217;s more to my native culture than this proverb:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Curiosity killed the cat,&#8221; meaning:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Curiosity can get you in trouble sometimes<br><span style=\"font-size: small;\">(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.lsi.edu\/en\/common-proverbs\">Common Proverbs<\/a>, LSI Education, London)<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Stop asking questions<br><span style=\"font-size: small;\">(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ef.edu\/english-resources\/english-idioms\/\">English idioms<\/a>, Resources for learning English, EF\/Education First)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"mad\"><\/a>Mad Scientists and Being Human<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/hubris-stories-and-that-which-might-exist\/#prometheus\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20130220ff\/ggmain20140113-detail-w-cprt.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Studio Foglio's Mr. Squibbs, used w\/o permission.\" align=\"right\"><\/a>Again, there&#8217;s more to my culture&#8217;s attitude toward curiosity than &#8220;stop asking questions.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although you&#8217;d never know it from our tales of mad scientists, rife with warnings against the folly of &#8220;tampering with things man was not supposed to know.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;<strong>Dr. James Xavier:<\/strong> &#8220;I&#8217;m blind to all but a tenth of the universe.&#8221;<br><strong>Dr. Sam Brant:<\/strong> &#8220;My dear friend, only the gods see everything.&#8221;<br><strong>Dr. James Xavier:<\/strong> &#8220;My dear doctor, I&#8217;m closing in on the gods.&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0057693\/quotes?item=qt0222676\">X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes<\/a>&#8221; (1963), via IMDB.com)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>In contrast, we&#8217;ve got folks like Chesterton and Samuel Johnson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;There is no such thing on earth as an uninteresting subject; the only thing that can exist is an uninterested person.&#8221;<br>(&#8220;Heretics,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikiquote.org\/wiki\/Heretics_(book)#Chapter_III:_%22On_Mr._Rudyard_Kipling_and_Making_the_World_Small%22\">Chapter III: &#8220;On Mr. Rudyard Kipling and Making the World Small&#8221;<\/a>, G. K. Chesterton (1905) via Wikiquote)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous intellect.&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikiquote.org\/wiki\/Samuel_Johnson#The_Rambler_(1750%E2%80%931752)\">The Rambler<\/a>,&#8221; Samuel Johnson (1750-1752) via Wikiquote)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>My view is close to Chesterton&#8217;s, that there&#8217;s no such thing as an uninteresting subject. But that&#8217;s my preference, or opinion. It matters to me, but isn&#8217;t therefore a universal truth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, is curiosity a good idea or a bad one?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"st\"><\/a>St. Augustine, Ignorance, Foolishness and Metaphorical Cloaks<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/marlowes-faustus-chorus-soliloquies-and-film-noir\/#postdoctoral\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20210209ff\/20210302-Historia_Mundi_Naturalis_Plinii_Secundi-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"A frontispiece for 'Historia Mundi Naturalis,' by Pliny the Elder, published Sigmund Feyerabend, Frankfurt am Main. (1582)\" align=\"right\"><\/a>As usual, it&#8217;s not that simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Neither is what St. Augustine of Hippo had to say about curiosity in his &#8220;Confessions.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;Notwithstanding, in how many most petty and contemptible things is our curiosity daily tempted, and how often we give way, who can recount?&#8221;<br>(&#8220;Confessions,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/3296\/3296-h\/3296-h.htm#link2H_4_0010\">Book X<\/a>, St. Augustine of Hippo (ca. 400 A.D.) Trans. Edward Bouverie Pusey, via Gutenberg.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Curiosity makes semblance of a desire of knowledge; whereas Thou supremely knowest all. Yea, ignorance and foolishness itself is cloaked under the name of simplicity and uninjuriousness;<br>(&#8220;Confessions,&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gutenberg.org\/files\/3296\/3296-h\/3296-h.htm#link2H_4_0002\">Book II<\/a>, St. Augustine of Hippo (ca. 400 A.D.) Trans. Edward Bouverie Pusey, via Gutenberg.org)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>Making sense of curiosity, and avoiding foolishness, wasn&#8217;t any easier 14 and a half centuries after St. Augustine of Hippo wrote his &#8220;Confessions.&#8221; And wasn&#8217;t any less controversial, I strongly suspect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"science\"><\/a>Science, Social Justice and Getting a Grip<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/religion-and-science-different-paths-to-reality\/#denouncing\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20160719ff\/20160824-nq160824-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Wiley Miller's Non Sequitur: The Church of Danae vs. logic and the laws of physics. (August 24, 2016) used w\/o permission.\" align=\"right\"><\/a>Not quite a millennium and a half after St. Augustine of Hippo&#8217;s day, Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci became Pope Leo XIII.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The late 19th century was not good times for folks who like the status quo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>New ideas and festering old attitudes were getting along about as well as fire and oil, cobra and mongoose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>From 1878 to 1903, Pope Leo XIII insisted that both socialism and laissez-faire capitalism were bad ideas, and that workers deserved decent wages and safe working conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I figure he upset a great many folks, and I think that he was right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Oversimplifying Pope Leo XIII&#8217;s position on social justice, science, and theology, something fearful: he reminded us that both God and truth matter. And that neither is going to get in the way of our faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Seems obvious, putting it that way. To me, at any rate. But I wasn&#8217;t brought up believing that faith meant putting my mind on &#8220;hold.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, Darwin&#8217;s &#8220;Origin of Species&#8221; mixed with the efforts of liberal Anglicans to pry England&#8217;s schools loose from Henry VIII&#8217;s state church.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With results similar to what you&#8217;d get from a blender set to &#8220;puree,&#8221; with the lid off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Meanwhile, archaeology was becoming less of an amateur treasure-hunting sport and more of a legitimate scholarly pursuit. And, perhaps inevitably, we got both &#8216;Biblical archaeology&#8217; and &#8216;Bible science,&#8217; AKA &#8216;creation science.&#8217;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Happily, somewhere in the early to mid 20th century, &#8216;Biblical&#8217; archaeologists started focusing more on unraveling part of humanity&#8217;s long story, and less on confirming their assumptions. Stalwart anti-evolutionists, on the other hand, carried on.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/curiosity-and-science-intent-and-wisdom-1122\/#2\">2<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ll give ardent champions of both &#8216;Biblical&#8217; studies credit for enthusiasm and imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"making\"><\/a>Making Sense and Other Alternatives<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/repeatable-results-that-arent\/#being\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20170306ff\/20170425-The_Scientific_Method_as_an_Ongoing_Process-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"ArchonMagnus' diagram of scientific method.\" align=\"right\"><\/a>But deciding what&#8217;s real first, and then selecting facts that fit the preferred conclusion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can&#8217;t see that as a good idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Starting with a conclusion, making up questions that&#8217;ll prove it, and then picking facts that give the &#8216;right&#8217; answers is pretty much the opposite of scientific method.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/curiosity-and-science-intent-and-wisdom-1122\/#3\">3<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That sort of alleged &#8220;science,&#8221; used as arguments for believing what folks like Ussher said the Bible says? It&#8217;s not just bad science. It&#8217;s &#8220;faith&#8221; based on fictions. Or, at best, based on codified folklore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ll grant that &#8216;creation science&#8217; media has been a tried and true staple for some \u2014 not all \u2014 Christian retailers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I also think that real-world analogs to Non Sequitur&#8217;s &#8220;Church of Danae&#8221; encourage the notion that religion in general and Christianity in particular don&#8217;t make sense.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"lovecrafts\"><\/a>Lovecraft&#8217;s &#8220;Placid Island of Ignorance&#8221;<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/robots-and-being-catholic\/#God\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20170306ff\/20170328-shoggoth_by_nottsuo-d9tt2vn-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Nottsuo's 'Shoggoth.' (2016)\" align=\"right\"><\/a>Then there&#8217;s H. P. Lovecraft and his &#8220;placid island of ignorance&#8221; attitude.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lovecraft apparently started out as a conventional American Protestant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, in 1902, he started learning about space, got interested in astronomy, and realized that this universe is really, really big.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That, World War I, plus Lovecraft&#8217;s interest in Nietzsche and Mencken, gave us his cosmicism philosophy and the Cthulhu mythos.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/curiosity-and-science-intent-and-wisdom-1122\/#4\">4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I like reading tales like &#8220;The Call of Cthulhu,&#8221; but don&#8217;t share his attitude toward the &#8220;terrifying vistas of reality, and our frightful position therein&#8230;.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Possibly because my faith didn&#8217;t require that I see Earth as the center of everything before I became a Catholic, and still doesn&#8217;t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. &#8230; The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age&#8230;.&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikiquote.org\/wiki\/H._P._Lovecraft#The_Call_of_Cthulhu_.281926.29\">The Call of Cthulhu<\/a>,&#8221; H. P. Lovecraft (1929); via WikiQuote)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"pope\"><\/a>A Pope, a Saint, the Bible, and &#8220;Terrifying Vistas&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/religion-and-science-different-paths-to-reality\/#truth\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20130220ff\/hs-2007-04-a-print-detail-rotate90enhanced.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Detail, Hubble Space Telescope's ACS' view of NGC 602 and N90. (July 14\/18, 2004) from NASA\/Hubble, used w\/o permission. (NGC 602 is an open cluster of stars in the Small Magellanic Cloud.)\" align=\"right\"><\/a>Before looking \u2014 make that glancing \u2014 at what St. Thomas Aquinas said about curiosity, here&#8217;s how Pope Leo XIII, St. Augustine of Hippo and the Bible say about those &#8220;terrifying vistas.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;God, the Creator and Ruler of all things, is also the Author of the Scriptures \u2014 and that therefore nothing can be proved either by physical science or archaeology which can really contradict the Scriptures. &#8230; Even if the difficulty is after all not cleared up and the discrepancy seems to remain, the contest must not be abandoned; <strong>truth cannot contradict truth<\/strong>&#8230;.&#8221;<br>(&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20140826ff-Documents\/Leo-XIII-ProvidentissimusDeus.pdf\">Providentissimus Deus<\/a>,&#8221; Pope Leo XIII (November 18, 1893) [emphasis mine])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;<strong>Question the beauty of the earth,<\/strong> question the beauty of the sea, question the beauty of the air&#8230;. They all answer you, &#8216;Here we are, look; we&#8217;re beautiful.&#8217;&#8230;<br>&#8220;&#8230;<strong>So in this way they arrived at a knowledge of the god who made things,<\/strong> through the things which he made.&#8221;<br>(<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20151212ff-Documents\/StAugustineHippoSermon241.pdf\">Sermon 241<\/a>, St. Augustine of Hippo (ca. 411) [emphasis mine])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Indeed, before you <strong>the whole universe is like a grain from a balance,<\/strong><br>or a drop of morning dew come down upon the earth.<br>&#8220;But you have mercy on all, because you can do all things;<br>and you overlook sins for the sake of repentance.&#8221;<br>(<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/wisdom\/11#27011022\">Wisdom 11:22<\/a>&#8211;<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/wisdom\/11#27011023\">23<\/a> [emphasis mine])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;<strong>God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good.<\/strong> Evening came, and morning followed\u2014the sixth day.&#8221;<br>(<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/genesis\/1#01001031\">Genesis 1:31<\/a> [emphasis mine])<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"lovecraft\"><\/a>Lovecraft Lives??<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/evolution-science-religion-opinions-and-me\/#taking\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20210525ff\/20210826-784px-Descent_of_the_Modernists_E_J_Pace_Christian_Cartoons_1922-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"E. J. Pace's 'The Descent of the Modernists,' from 'Christian Cartoons.' (1922)\"><\/a><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">(From E. J. Pace, via Wikimedia Commons, used w\/o permission.)<\/span><br>(A scary picture from &#8220;Christian Cartoons,&#8221; E. J. Price. (1922))<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Another quote\/excerpt, partly because I like the title&#8217;s take on &#8220;curiosity killed the cat,&#8221; and partly because &#8220;being lost in a mysterious universe without having any purpose&#8221; sounds downright Lovecraftian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.colorado.edu\/biofrontiers\/2017\/03\/17\/curiosity-killed-cat-it-may-help-you-get-nobel-prize\">Curiosity killed the cat, but it may help you get the Nobel prize<\/a>&#8220;<br>BioFrontiers Institute, University of Colorado (March 17, 2017)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t feel frightened by not knowing things, by being lost in a mysterious universe without having any purpose \u2014 which is the way it really is so far as I can tell \u2014 it does not frighten me.&#8221;<br>(Richard Feynman, The Pleasure of Finding Things Out)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t see a point in being frightened by what humanity hasn&#8217;t learned yet, or by what we have been learning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As for being lost in this universe, that&#8217;s really not an issue; since I&#8217;ll be spending my life here on Earth. Only a few folks have left humanity&#8217;s home, and then only for a few days. So far. And that&#8217;s another topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"living\"><\/a>Living in a Vast and Ancient Universe<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/space-firsts-new-horizons-change-4\/#truth\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20171117ff\/ObservableUniverseToEarth-658-enh.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Collage of Andrew Z. Colvin's 'Earth's Location in the Universe' diagrams, via Wikimedia Commons.\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>In any case, I&#8217;m a Catholic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My faith doesn&#8217;t depend on opinions held by Ussher or any other European scholar, a few centuries back: before we began learning how vast and ancient this universe is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/making-a-universe-why-bother\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20160719ff\/20170127-NGC_3372a-full-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Detail, 'The Carina Nebula: Star Birth in the Extreme,' The Hubble Heritage Project. Space Telescope Science Institute. (April 24, 2007) Via Wikimedia Commons.\" align=\"right\"><\/a>And it&#8217;s sure not threatened by knowledge of this wonder-packed universe. Or, for that matter, by what we don&#8217;t know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;No matter where and how far we look, <strong>nowhere do we find a contradiction between religion and natural science.<\/strong> On the contrary, we find a complete concordance in the very points of decisive importance. Religion and natural science do not exclude each other, as many contemporaries of ours would believe or fear. <strong>They mutually supplement and condition each other.<\/strong> &#8230;&#8221;<br>&#8220;&#8230;<strong>Religion and natural science are fighting a joint battle<\/strong> in an incessant, never relaxing crusade against scepticism and against dogmatism, <strong>against disbelief and against superstition<\/strong>, and the rallying cry in this crusade has always been, and always will be: <strong>&#8216;On to God!&#8217;<\/strong>&#8220;<br>(&#8220;Religion and Natural Science,&#8221; Lecture about the relationship between religion and science. Originally entitled Religion und Naturwissenschaft. (1937) Complete translation into English: &#8220;Max Planck: <a href=\"https:\/\/books.google.com.mx\/books?id=qtK0Yrm82PwC&amp;dq=%22the+world+order+of+science+with+the+God+or+religion%22&amp;q=%22Having+now+learned%22&amp;hl=es-419#v=snippet&amp;q=%22Having%20now%20learned%22&amp;f=false\">Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers<\/a>&#8221; (1968); via <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikiquote.org\/wiki\/Max_Planck\">Wikiquote<\/a> [emphasis mine])<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The heavens declare the glory of God;<br>the firmament proclaims the works of his hands.&#8221;<br>(<a href=\"https:\/\/bible.usccb.org\/bible\/psalms\/19#23019002\">Psalms 19:2<\/a>)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"vice\"><\/a>&#8220;The Vice of Curiosity?&#8221;<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/bogs-and-bison\/#dont\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20130220ff\/439px-Gentile_da_Fabriano_052-ThomasAquinas-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Detail, Gentile da Fabriano's 'Coronation of the Virgin,' gable painting, right inner panel, showing St. Thomas Aquinas.' (ca. 1400)\" align=\"right\"><\/a>Now, finally, a (very) little of what St. Thomas Aquinas said about &#8220;the vice of curiosity&#8221; in &#8220;Summa Theologica.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;As stated above (II-II:166:2 ad 2) studiousness is directly, not about knowledge itself, but about the desire and study in the pursuit of knowledge. Now <strong>we must judge differently of the knowledge itself of truth, and of the desire and study in the pursuit of the knowledge of truth. For the knowledge of truth, strictly speaking, is good, but it may be evil accidentally<\/strong>, by reason of some result, either because one takes pride in knowing the truth, according to 1 Corinthians 8:1, &#8216;Knowledge puffeth up,&#8217; or because one uses the knowledge of truth in order to sin&#8230;.&#8221;<br>(&#8220;Summa Theologica,&#8221; Second Part of the Second Part, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newadvent.org\/summa\/3167.htm\">Question 167<\/a>; St. Thomas Aquinas (13th century) Trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (1920) via NewAdvent [emphasis mine])<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>First off, the &#8220;accidentally&#8221; St. Thomas Aquinas talks about here isn&#8217;t the &#8220;I ran off the road accidentally&#8221; sense of the word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An &#8220;accident&#8221; can be an unplanned event, a fallacy, an abrupt geological discontinuity, or a philosophical idea. Then there&#8217;s Accident, Maryland, and that&#8217;s yet another topic.<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/curiosity-and-science-intent-and-wisdom-1122\/#5\">5<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In context, I&#8217;m pretty sure that this &#8220;accidentally&#8221; is the philosophical variety: a property something has which is not part of its essential nature, and which can change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A brick, for example, could be painted brown, blue or green. But it would still be a brick. The brick&#8217;s colors are there &#8220;accidentally,&#8221; while the brick remains essentially a brick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, if knowledge of truth truth is basically good, how could it possibly be bad?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pretty easily, actually, since we have free will and have been dealing with consequences of a really daft decision. (Genesis 1:31; 3:1-19; Catechism of the Catholic Church, 385-412, 1730-1742)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"quarks\"><\/a>Quarks, Truth and Intent<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/evolution-science-religion-opinions-and-me\/#taking\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20181226ff\/20190114-663px-FlammarionWoodcut-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"The 'Flammarion Woodcut, from his 'L'Atmosph\u00e8re: M\u00e9t\u00e9orologie Populaire.' (1888)\" align=\"right\"><\/a>Next, &#8220;Summa&#8221; shows us how someone can use studiousness for a wrong reason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I gather that it&#8217;s a matter of intent. (Catechism, 1750-1756, 1789)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>&#8220;&#8230;for instance <strong>those who study to know the truth that they may take pride in their knowledge<\/strong>. Hence Augustine says (De Morib. Eccl. 21): &#8216;Some there are who forsaking virtue, and ignorant of what God is, and of the majesty of that nature which ever remains the same, imagine they are doing something great, if with surpassing curiosity and keenness they explore the whole mass of this body which we call the world. <strong>So great a pride is thus begotten, that one would think they dwelt in the very heavens about which they argue.&#8217;<\/strong>&#8230;&#8221;<br>(&#8220;Summa Theologica,&#8221; Second Part of the Second Part, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.newadvent.org\/summa\/3167.htm\">Question 167<\/a>; St. Thomas Aquinas (13th century) Trans. Fathers of the English Dominican Province (1920) via NewAdvent [emphasis mine])<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>I don&#8217;t run into scientific triumphalism nearly as much now as I did in my youth. Although now and again I read someone&#8217;s rehash of &#8216;now that we understand the laws of nature.&#8217;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/baryons-gravity-waves\/#standard\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20220318ff\/20220603744px-Standard_Model_of_Elementary_Particles_-_Gravity-329.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Cush's diagram of Standard Model of elementary particles, plus hypothetical gravitons. (2017)\" align=\"right\"><\/a>And I suspect that scientists are becoming less the old-school aristocratic scholars, and more a bunch of giddy nerds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I mean to say, giving newly-discovered elementary particles monikers like &#8220;quark&#8221; and &#8220;gluon&#8221; \u2014 which come in red, green, blue and five other color singlet states?<sup><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/curiosity-and-science-intent-and-wisdom-1122\/#6\">6<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I <strong>strongly<\/strong> suspect they&#8217;re having fun, as well as trying to unscrew the inscrutable. And that&#8217;s yet again another topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Or maybe not so much. I like the informal turn science seems to have been taking, but don&#8217;t and won&#8217;t claim that &#8216;through nerdishness shalt thou be savethed.&#8217;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;m pretty sure that a nerd could get as self-absorbed as the stuffiest stuffed-shirt man of science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a name=\"continued\"><\/a>To Be Continued<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/making-a-universe-why-bother\/#developing\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20130220ff\/20150725-hs-2007-04-a-full_jpg-AsAGrain-658.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Hubble Space Telescope's ACS image: NGC 602 and N90 in the Small Magellanic Cloud. With Wisdom 11:22 text.\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The trick, for me at least, is remembering that God&#8217;s God, I&#8217;m not \u2014 for which we should all be thankful. And that&#8217;s still more topics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I had more to say about Question 167, Second Part of the Second Part, in &#8220;Summa Theologica:&#8221; including why I started reading it. But I&#8217;ve run out of time this week, so that must wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thanks for reading this \u2014 and please click the &#8220;Like this&#8221; button, below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s all I&#8217;ve got this week, except for the usual links:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-religion-covid-19-and-an-unexpected-opinion\/\">Science, Religion, COVID-19 and an Unexpected Opinion<\/a>&#8220;<br>(November 8, 2021)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/evolution-science-religion-opinions-and-me\/\">Evolution: Science, Religion, Opinions and Me<\/a>&#8220;<br>(August 28, 2021)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/religion-and-science-different-paths-to-reality\/\">Religion and Science: Different Paths to Reality<\/a>&#8220;<br>(November 14, 2020)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/chasing-butterflies-and-truth\/\">Chasing Butterflies and Truth<\/a>&#8220;<br>(January 19, 2018)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/science-faith-and-me\/\">Science, Faith, and Me<\/a>&#8220;<br>(November 5, 2017)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-text-color has-black-color has-alpha-channel-opacity has-black-background-color has-background is-style-wide\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"1\"><\/a>1<\/sup> Being interested<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Curiosity\">Curiosity<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Curiosity#Ethicality\">Ethicality<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Inquiry\">Inquiry<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Interest_(emotion)\">Interest (emotion)<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"2\"><\/a>2<\/sup> A Saint, a pope, an activist, history and weirdness:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Augustine_of_Hippo\">Augustine of Hippo<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Biblical_archaeology\">Biblical archaeology<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Church_of_England\">Church of England<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rejection_of_evolution_by_religious_groups\">Rejection of evolution by religious groups<\/a>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rejection_of_evolution_by_religious_groups#Contemporary_reaction_to_Darwin\">Contemporary reaction to Darwin<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rejection_of_evolution_by_religious_groups#Creationism_in_theology\">Creationism in theology<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rejection_of_evolution_by_religious_groups#United_States_legal_challenges_and_their_consequences\">United States legal challenges and their consequences<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Creation_and_evolution_in_public_education\">Creation and evolution in public education<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Emancipation_reform_of_1861\">Emancipation reform of 1861<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_archaeology\">History of archaeology<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_the_creation%E2%80%93evolution_controversy\">History of the creation-evolution controversy<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_evolutionary_thought\">History of evolutionary thought<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/History_of_slavery\">History of slavery<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kathleen_Kenyon\">Kathleen Kenyon<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/On_the_Origin_of_Species\">On the Origin of Species<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paris_Commune\">Paris Commune<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pope_Leo_XIII\">Pope Leo XIII<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Pseudoarchaeology\">Pseudoarchaeology<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Reactions_to_On_the_Origin_of_Species\">Reactions to On the Origin of Species<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Rejection_of_evolution_by_religious_groups\">Rejection of evolution by religious groups<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Searches_for_Noah%27s_Ark\">Search for Noah&#8217;s Ark<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Thomas_Henry_Huxley\">Thomas Henry Huxley<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Women%27s_suffrage\">Women&#8217;s suffrage<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pope Leo XIII\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20140826ff-Documents\/Leo-XIII-ProvidentissimusDeus.pdf\">Providentissimus Deus<\/a>&#8221; (November 18, 1893)<br><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">(<a href=\"http:\/\/w2.vatican.va\/content\/leo-xiii\/en\/encyclicals\/documents\/hf_l-xiii_enc_18111893_providentissimus-deus.html\">w2.vatican.va\/content\/leo-xiii\/en\/encyclicals\/documents\/hf_l-xiii_enc_18111893_providentissimus-deus.html<\/a>)<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/blogsource\/20150212-ff-Documents\/Leo-XIII-Rerum-Novarum.pdf\">Rerum Novarum<\/a>&#8221; (May 15, 1891)<br><span style=\"font-size: xx-small;\">(From <a href=\"http:\/\/w2.vatican.va\/content\/leo-xiii\/en\/encyclicals\/documents\/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html\">w2.vatican.va\/content\/leo-xiii\/en\/encyclicals\/documents\/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html<\/a> (May 2, 2015))<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Accepting reality\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/evolution-science-religion-opinions-and-me\/\">Evolution: Science, Religion, Opinions and Me<\/a>&#8221; (August 28, 2021)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/evolution-science-religion-opinions-and-me\/#truth\">&#8220;&#8230;Truth will be Truth&#8230;.&#8221;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/evolution-science-religion-opinions-and-me\/#romanism\">Romanism, Evolution and Other &#8216;Threats&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/evolution-science-religion-opinions-and-me\/#seeking\">Seeking Knowledge, Appreciating God&#8217;s Work<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"3\"><\/a>3<\/sup> Dealing with truth, one way or another:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Creation_science\">Creation science<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Scientific_method\">Scientific method<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ussher_chronology\">Ussher chronology<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Science <strong>and<\/strong> faith\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/an-exomoon-science-and-truth\/\">An Exomoon, Science and Truth<\/a>&#8221; (October 18, 2018)\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/an-exomoon-science-and-truth\/#science\">Science and Faith \u2014 Pursuing Truth<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/an-exomoon-science-and-truth\/#studying\">Studying God&#8217;s Work<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"4\"><\/a>4<\/sup> On the edge of &#8220;terrifying vistas:&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cosmicism\">Cosmicism<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cthulhu_Mythos\">Cthulhu Mythos<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/H._P._Lovecraft\">H. P. Lovecraft<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"5\"><\/a>5<\/sup> Philosophy and a town in Maryland:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Accident\">Accident<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Accident_(fallacy)\">Accident (fallacy)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Accident,_Maryland\">Accident, Maryland<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Accident_(philosophy)\">Accident (philosophy)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Contingency_(philosophy)\">Contingency (philosophy)<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Glossary of geology, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Glossary_of_geology#accident\">accident<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Modal_logic\">Modal logic<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Substance_theory\">Substance theory<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><sup><a name=\"6\"><\/a>6<\/sup> It&#8217;s elementary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Wikipedia\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Color_charge\">Color charge<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Quark\">Quark<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gluon\">Gluon<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(From Bonhams auction house, used w\/o permission.)(Louis William Wain&#8217;s &#8220;A curious cat.&#8221; (ca. 1930)) As a behavior, curiosity is part of being a rat, a cat, or a human. In humans, at least, it&#8217;s also an emotion. Whether the decline &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/curiosity-and-science-intent-and-wisdom-1122\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"This week I discuss using and misusing curiosity: with quotes from St. Augustine, Pope Leo XIII, St. Thomas Aquinas and H. P. Lovecraft.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[154],"tags":[27,74,22,24],"class_list":["post-5947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-discursive-detours","tag-history","tag-philosophy","tag-science","tag-truth"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Dwtw-1xV","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5947"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5947\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8091,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5947\/revisions\/8091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brendans-island.com\/catholic-citizen\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}