As a graduate student in physical chemistry in the 1970s, I was an atheist, finding no reason to postulate the existence of any truths outside of mathematics, physics and chemistry. But then I went to medical school, and encountered life and death issues at the bedsides of my patients.

When I was in medical school what I realized was that peoples “beliefs” are irrelevant. All the praying and believing did not change medical outcomes one iota.

When I was in graduate school (physics PhD) I realized that all of human knowledge is comprised of models of our universe built and tested for predictive power. Theism proposes no testable model of anything.

Collins needs to go back to school or at least learn something outside of school.

Interestingly, today is the anniversary of Francis Crick, a co-discoverer of the structure of the DNA molecule. The FFRF had this quotation of his on their web site today:

?I realized early on that it is detailed scientific knowledge which makes certain religious beliefs untenable. A knowledge of the true age of the earth and of the fossil record makes it impossible for any balanced intellect to believe in the literal truth of every part of the Bible in the way that fundamentalists do. And if some of the Bible is manifestly wrong, why should any of the rest of it be accepted automatically? . . . What could be more foolish than to base one’s entire view of life on ideas that, however plausible at the time, now appear to be quite erroneous? And what would be more important than to find our true place in the universe by removing one by one these unfortunate vestiges of earlier beliefs??

– Francis Crick, What Mad Pursuit: A Personal View of Scientific Discovery, 1988

This is because our minds are not really set up for the goal of “seek the truth,” they are set up to “assist the body, or at least don’t be an impediment.” The caveman pondering the significance of his existance wasn’t breeding or eating, and although he might have passed on whatever technology he created to his tribe mates, he probably didn’t pass on as many genes. To an extent, truth seeking was a waste.

I had to admit that the science I loved so much was powerless to answer questions such as “What is the meaning of life?” “Why am I here?” “Why does mathematics work, anyway?” “If the universe had a beginning, who created it?” “Why are the physical constants in the universe so finely tuned to allow the possibility of complex life forms?” “Why do humans have a moral sense?” “What happens after we die?”

Or one can simply accept that some questions are poorly formed, leading, and impossible to answer.

“What is the meaning of life?” the theist asks.

“When did you stop beating your wife?” is a perfectly valid response.

Both are leading questions with a presupposition that lead to the formation of the question.