Science vs. religion : what scientists really think - File PDF

64Crossing the Picket Lines: The Personal Faith of Scientistsand wonder at the universe.” Spirituality, then, specifically links this chemistwith science and is even generated from his science. He finds his ideas aboutspirituality, although not religion, to be perfectly reconciled with his work. Andfor him, Einstein serves as a legitimating trope (a concept that one links oridentifies with to appear more valid or truthful). Surely, then, Einstein couldserve as the last word on the matter.AN ENGAGED SPIRITUALITYSociologist Michele Dillon and her coauthors say that spirituality often spursimpulses that make a person more concerned with his own spiritual enlightenmentand path to peace than with the welfare of others. In contrast, for scientistswho are spiritual entrepreneurs, about one-third specifically link theirspirituality with helping others. Some go so far as to consider their engagedspirituality worthy of a boundary between themselves and scientists who arestrict secularists and who, these respondents think, often do not reflect carefullyon the implications of their science.At the point where spiritual practices are “thick” (see the section “SpiritualEntrepreneurs” near the beginning of this chapter) for this population of scientists,such practices also reinforce the notion of belief and/or the quest forcoherence and truth. The quest then spurs more action, and the circle of coherencecontinues. This spirituality emanates naturally from the work that they doand manifests in a sense of care for the people around them. For example, onthe survey I gave to 1,646 scientists, I asked if they had participated in any volunteeractivities in the past six months. Nearly 84 percent of those who sawthemselves as spiritual to some extent had engaged in some form of volunteering.In comparison, about 71 percent of those who are “not at all spiritual” hadvolunteered, a modest but significant difference.I found that a higher proportion of those scientists who engage in any spiritualpractices do some form of volunteering than do those who do not practiceTABLE 4.2. Spiritual Practices and VolunteeringMeditation Yoga Reading Sacred TextAny VolunteerActivityYes No Yes No Yes No89% 72% 83% 76% 93% 72%