

Science does not progress via experimentation but by philosophising.  One
aim of experiments is to investigate the validity of the hyptheses
resulting from the models produced by this thinking process.


Science has one advantage of all other approaches to explaining the world.
It is objective.


Anything which affects the physical world can be studied.  For example,
since we are part of the physical world, anything (including spirits) which
affects our behaviour can be observed.  Science does not make any claims
about the existence or non-existence of objects which do not affect the
physical world.


The purpose of science is to produce a model of the *physical* world.  The
model must be able to explain all past observations and predict the outcome
of future observations.  One of the aims of experiments is to carry out
well defined observations which are objective.

Ideally scientist will except the model which best describes the world, and
the model which realises on the minimal number of assumptions.  At the
moment models which do not rely on the assumption of some *spiritual* world
existing are equally powerful to ones which assume the assumption of a
*spiritual* world.  As the non-spiritual models has fewer assumptions it
should be the currently accepted models.

The scientific process never assumes that its present models are the
correct ones, whereas many religions claim to represent the truth.  The
arrogance of many theists is that they claim to represent the truth, this
cannot be said of scientists.