Scientists, God and Consciousness

Scientists' belief in God varies by discipline

"About two-thirds of scientists believe in God, according to a new survey, based on the type of research they do. Those in the social sciences are more likely to believe in God than researchers in the natural sciences, the study found. Nearly 38 percent of natural scientists -- people in disciplines like physics, chemistry and biology -- said they do not believe in God. Only 31 percent of the social scientists do not believe. In the new study, Rice University sociologist Elaine Howard Ecklund surveyed 1,646 faculty members at elite research universities, asking 36 questions about belief and spiritual practices."

Why great minds can't grasp consciousness

"Subject no longer just for philosophers and mystics, but remains a mystery"

"At a physics meeting last October, Nobel laureate David Gross outlined 25 questions in science that he thought physics might help answer. Nestled among queries were questions that involved human consciousness. He wondered whether scientists would ever be able to measure the onset consciousness in infants and speculated that consciousness might be similar to what physicists call a "phase transition," an abrupt and sudden large-scale transformation resulting from several microscopic changes. The emergence of superconductivity in certain metals when cooled below a critical temperature is an example of a phase transition."