![Where’s the boundary between science and religion?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay1_accupuncture_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Where’s the boundary between science and religion?
It's not where you think..
![Two lists](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay1a_twolists_ws.png)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Two lists
The frame that shapes (and corrupts) our thinking.
![Acupuncture: Science? Religion? Both? Neither?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay2_mushrooms_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Acupuncture: Science? Religion? Both? Neither?
Questioning everything we thought we knew about both science and religion.
![Packing and Unpacking Religion](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay3_packaging_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Packing and Unpacking Religion
Why we can’t agree on whether Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism are religions.
![Is there even such a thing as religion?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay4_religion_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Is there even such a thing as religion?
It’s not about belief, it’s about relationships.
![The Enlightenment Vision of science](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay5_enlightenmentvision_ws.png)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
The Enlightenment Vision of science
This is what is at stake.
![Science and method](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay6_method_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Science and method
What would happen if scientists followed the scientific method?
![Can science be objective?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay7_objectivity_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Can science be objective?
(Spoilers: No, it cannot.)
![Science: universal or useful?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay8_universality_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Science: universal or useful?
It can't be both.
![True for you but not for me? That’s just your opinion!](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay10_trueforyou_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
True for you but not for me? That’s just your opinion!
Thinking about claims that are not universal or not objective.
![Contesting truth](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay11_contest_ws.png)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Contesting truth
Why can't we all agree about science?
![Epistemic communities](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay12_epistemiccommunities_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Epistemic communities
Where collective knowledge is generated
![Truth you can see, and truth you cannot](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay13_noumena_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Truth you can see, and truth you cannot
Understanding science's relation to the unseen.
![Truth: more than facts](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay14_facts_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Truth: more than facts
More things need to be true than we usually realise.
![Getting information: reason and observation](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay23a_reason_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Getting information: reason and observation
When knowledge is reasonable or sensible.
![Getting information: revelation](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay23b_revelation_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Getting information: revelation
When knowledge is faithful.
![Ways of putting information together](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay23c_combiningideas_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Ways of putting information together
Do we build theories or weave them?
![Can we trust our conclusions?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay23d_conclusions_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Can we trust our conclusions?
If you brain was lying to you, how could you tell?
![But is it real?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay15_real_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
But is it real?
What does the question even mean?
![How do you separate real from unreal?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay16_naturalismetal_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
How do you separate real from unreal?
Naturalism, materialism, physicalism, and disappointment.
![Does the universe care what we think?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay17a_ontology_ws.png)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Does the universe care what we think?
Considering ontological realism.
![Can we know what the world is like?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay17b_epistemology_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Can we know what the world is like?
Considering epistemic realism.
![Do we mean what we say?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay17c_semantics_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Do we mean what we say?
Considering semantic realism.
![Can we trust our experience?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay17d_subjective_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Can we trust our experience?
Considering subjective realism.
![What are signs pointing to?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/placeholder.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
What are signs pointing to?
Considering symbolic realism.
![Being more than one sort of realist](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay17f_realisms_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Being more than one sort of realist
And possibly less than all sorts of realist.
![Am I an object or a person?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay18_objects_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Am I an object or a person?
Will you make me into one or the other?
![Treating non-humans as persons](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay19_persons_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Treating non-humans as persons
It works. But is it more than that?
![Non-human and para-human persons](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay20_nephesh_ws.png)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Non-human and para-human persons
We'll call them "nephesh".
![How do you relate to nephesh?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay21_relatingtonephesh_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
How do you relate to nephesh?
As a stranger? enemy? servant? lover?
![Metapersons in your community](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay21a_metapersons_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Metapersons in your community
Which ones should you care about?
![Are nephesh real?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay22_realnephesh_ws.png)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Are nephesh real?
Or are they a useful fiction?
![Methodological personalism](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/articles-image-2022-08-13-3.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Methodological personalism
Why physicists name their lasers.
![What is life?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay24_life_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
What is life?
Bios, anima, psyche or zoe?
![Vitalism](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay25_vitalism_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Vitalism
Biology tells us about life, but not how to live.
![Models: Does Elon Musk exist?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay26a_models_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Models: Does Elon Musk exist?
What pet elephants teach us about the stock market.
![Free will, divine action, and Elon Musk](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay26b_freewill_ws.png)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Free will, divine action, and Elon Musk
Taking a fresh look at some age-old problems.
![Modelling social life](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay26_sociallife_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Modelling social life
The map isn't the territory.
![Religious models of society](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay27_religiousmodels_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Religious models of society
Where they overlap with - or differ from - social science.
![Intellectual objects](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/articles-image-2022-08-13.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Intellectual objects
How we create the tools to think about things.
![Numbers, words, and persons in intellectual objects](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/articles-image-2022-08-13.png)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Numbers, words, and persons in intellectual objects
Why do we prefer numbers?
![Transforming the world with intellectual objects](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay27d_transforming_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Transforming the world with intellectual objects
The power and the cost of objectifying.
![Religious intellectual objects](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/articles-image-2022-08-13-2.png)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Religious intellectual objects
How we make gods into objects
![Counter-intuitive and self-negating intellectual objects](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay27f_counterintuitive_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Counter-intuitive and self-negating intellectual objects
How science and religion bend our minds.
![What makes a controversy?](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay28a_controversy_ws.png)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
What makes a controversy?
Science, religion, and the stories we tell ourselves.
![Old stories of who we are](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/placeholder.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Old stories of who we are
Evolution and the stories we used to tell ourselves.
![New stories of who we are](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/placeholder.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
New stories of who we are
Evolution and the stories we tell ourselves today.
![Control and violence](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/articles-image-2022-08-13-4.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Control and violence
Stories and science's dirty secret.
![Frames](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/placeholder.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Frames
You cannot separate what you say from how you say it.
![A place for virtue](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay28_virtue_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
A place for virtue
Science as a virtuous practice.
![A place for not knowing](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/placeholder.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
A place for not knowing
The necessity of living with ignorance.
![A place for commitment](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay30_commitment_ws.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
A place for commitment
The need to risk it all on what you cannot know.
![Choosing our commitments](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/articles-image-2022-08-13-3.png)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
Choosing our commitments
Because we can only know afterwards.
![The cost of commitment](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/essay31_cost_ws.jpeg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/mikepic-340x9999,q=85,e=jpeg.jpg)
The cost of commitment
The necessity of risking everything you are.
![Intellectuals and laypersons in science and religion](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/articles-image-2022-08-13-2.jpg)
![img](https://faithandscience.hku.hk/media/blogs/reassemblingreality/cache/davidpic-340x9999,q=85.jpg)
Intellectuals and laypersons in science and religion
When scientists have more in common with priests and theologians.