2019 Templeton prize winner weighs in on Science vrs. Spirituality

He is an agnostics who does not believe in God. But this professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College refused to write off the possibility of the existence of God.

Professor Marcelo Gleiser told AFP, Atheism is inconsistent with scientific method. Gleiser was born in Rio de Janeiro, and has been in the United States since 1986.

“ Science, to me, is a spiritual quest. Because as you ask the big questions about the world and about nature and about the place of humanity in the universe, you’re asking very, very old questions, you know, questions that predate sciences, that are really part of the oldest religion that we know of “, he said.

The 2019 winner of the annual Templeton Prize beliefs that ‘‘science can give answers to certain questions, up to a point’‘.

“ I hope that this will just be more fuel for me, you know, to go out there and to bring my message to more and more people. I think we’re living a time where we have to understand that we must take care of ourselves and of our planet and all kinds of life in it “, he added.

Professor Gleiser may ignite a long held debate over the existence of God and the power behind science.

For the 60 year old, those who belief that the earth was created in seven days, ‘’ position science as the enemy, because they have a very antiquated way of thinking about science and religion in which all scientists try to kill God.’‘

His $1.5 million prize well surpasses that of the Nobel Prizes.

The physicist has made complex subjects accessible and written on climate change, Einstein, hurricanes, black holes, the human conscience among others.

Gleiser joins South Africa’s Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama and dissident Soviet author, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn as recipients of the prize, which was established in 1973.

AFP