REL 280 - Religion and Science

Course Units: 1.0

Is Greta Thunberg the antichrist? Will A.I. usher in an age of amazing, sustainable abundance? Or possibly exterminate the human race? Should we accept that machines will become our god-like overlords and just start worshipping them now? This class cannot answer these questions. But it does invite you to think about why religious frameworks-especially the concepts of progress and apocalypse-tend to dominate discussions and debates about A.I. and other technological and scientific innovations. We will look at the long history of interactions between the domains of science and religion in a diverse range of historical settings including ancient astrology, medieval efforts to create artificial life through alchemy, early modern witch hunts, and modern quantum mechanics and nuclear science. CQ: HUM ISP: REL, STS