Religion and science have been intertwined throughout history, and although these two modes of thought are seen as separate and antagonistic realms today, the ties still exist. You note how they are both based on belief systems; for instance, Occam's razor - the theory that the simplest explanation must be correct - is a scientific belief that may or may not be true. Could you comment on the relationship between science and religion today? David Grinspoon (DG): It's not a very healthy relationship is it? There are some scientists who think that religion ought to be stamped out. They are a minority, fortunately. And I don't have much tolerance for religions that refuse to listen to science at all. These are like bad music videos. Why watch that channel when you live in the 21st century and there are better options? I think the relationship between religion and science ought to be fixed. Many religious people have a very sophisticated knowledge of and appreciation for science, but they think we need something more than science. And guess what? I agree with them.

I think that science and religion can learn important things from each other. One of the more out-there ideas in the final chapter of "Lonely Planets" (called "Astrotheology") is that an intelligent species will only survive over cosmologically significant timescales if guided by a fusion of science and religion. Both scientific and spiritual progress are needed to survive natural disasters and avoid self-inflicted ones. So when we meet ET, or get a message from her, she may regard our making a distinction between the two as some primitive mental trap from which we need to be sprung.One reason why astrobiology and SETI draw such huge public interest is that they are quests that are at once scientific and spiritual. People sense the need for a spirituality that is in tune with the modern world, and for a scientific culture that doesn't shy away from responsibility, admits the limitations of science, doesn't denigrate other belief systems, and is open to spirituality. Some scientists will hate that last phrase, but others will know what I mean.

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Hum, I'm a bit skeptical on the relation between science and religion. I don't see what the contribution of religion is to science, other than a cancer. I don't think religion is needed to evolve spiritualy: compassion, charity, honesty and all similar principles don't need a God to exist, the desire of a society living in harmony with its environement (humans, animal, nature) is just enough. Basically spirituality and social progress are linked to education. However I agree that the more we advance technologically the more the human race needs to evolve spiritually (the Cold War was typically a lack of such evolution with an excess of technological progress).

Anyway, that's just my opinion, as usual,

TheLight