The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust

 
Book:  The Road to Wisdom: On Truth, Science, Faith, and Trust

Basic Information : Synopsis :  Expectations : Thoughts : Evaluation : Book Group : New Words : Book References : Good Quotes : Table of Contents : References

Basic Information:

Author: Francis S. Collins

Edition: ePub on Libby from the Los Angeles Public Library

Publisher:  Little, Brown and Company

ISBN: 9780316576307 (ISBN10: 0316576301)

Start Date: October 23, 2024

Read Date: February 21, 2025

288 pages

Genre:  Science, Christianity, Book Group

Language Warning:  None

Rated Overall: 4  out of 5

Religion: Christianity

Religious Quality: 4 out of 5

Christianity-Teaching Quality: 3 out of 5

Synopsis:

Francis Collins was the director of the Human Genome project, then the head of the National Institute of Health under three Presidents. He is also a man of faith. This book is an attempt to help us to make wiser choices as a community. He hits on four items which will lead us to wisdom: truth, science, faith and trust. This is built on a pillars of truth, love, beauty, goodness, freedom, faith, and family.

His last chapter deals with what can we do about the situation in a divided country. His answer is two things: listen and interact with those of differing opinions; and get involved in change.

Expectations:

Recommendation: Sherri

When: Fall 2024

Why do I want to read this book: Collins is an intelligent Christian who has headed up the NIH.

Thoughts:

Collins likes the phrase Let’s be clear.

CHAPTER 1 - SEARCHING FOR WISDOM IN A TROUBLED TIME

More tears are shed in a science laboratory than you might think. This book starts out talking about how scientists are like other humans. They invest a lot of themselves in their work. Failure is failure, even if it is part of the work of discovery. Collin’s initial research was a failure. He talks with his sponsor. He listens to my tale of woe but surprises me by not being at all upset about it. Instead, he tells me his own story of spectacular early research failure and points out how much he learned from that, and how it made him a better scientist. His pastor gives him guidance. He helps me see how failure is part of being both a believer and a scientist.

DERIVING WISDOM FROM FAILURE

Collins thinks that failed experiments do tell us about nature. He said that they turned out they were based on a faulty understanding of nature. Even that understanding adds.

Richard Feynman after the Challenger disaster, “For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled.” Collins' conclusion is that failure is not an affront to science, it’s an element of science. He goes on and says Wisdom was acquired. Yes, painfully. But gainfully.

As an aside: If your experiments work every time, you’re probably not working on anything very important.

Failure is personal to Collins. It worked on strengthening his faith. He has a commitment to truth, science, and faith.

This is a book about the sources of wisdom. The reason why he wrote this book. He says that we have lost the understanding of why we need wisdom and how to acquire it.

Wisdom includes the understanding and incorporation of a moral framework. Wisdom goes beyond knowledge, but into understanding of how it should be used and what is just and good.

MY NONLINEAR LIFE JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF WISDOM

Collins starts talking about how he became a man of faith. Also about his relationship between faith and science. He notes that I have never encountered a situation where I found my scientific and spiritual worldviews to be in serious conflict. He talks about his development both as a scientist and as a believer. Also about how attitudes towards science are changing, particularly during the COVID pandemic.

COVID AND THE CRISIS OF PUBLIC TRUST

Talks about his part in responding to COVID. Along with many others, I worked hundred-hour weeks for most of 2020 and 2021, determined to let nothing slow the effort to find answers, and painfully aware that every day brought news of thousands more deaths.

He set standards and protocols to increase the chances of successful vaccines. The FDA had set the threshold for approval at 50 percent efficacy, about what the flu vaccine achieves each year.

Talks about how rumor, misinformation and bad politics caused 50,000,000 Americans to forgo the vaccine. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, more than 230,000 Americans died unnecessarily between June 2021 and April 2022 because misinformation caused them to turn away from what might have saved them in the midst of a dangerous pandemic.

We are in serious trouble when some believe that their faith requires them to distrust science, or when others believe that political allegiances are a better source of wisdom than truth, faith, or science.

There are always temptations to put politics above truth. He feels our culture is broken and has lost its moorings.

CURSING THE DARKNESS DOESN’T HELP

Collins talks about his discussion with Adam Wilk Wilkinson under the auspices of Braver Angels. It was titled An Elitist and A Deplorable Walk Into A Bar. The idea was that the two were on the opposite sides of how COVID should be attacked. But could they have a civil discussion?

While explaining his side, Collins also talked about how scientists could have communicated better and recommended better ways to deal with COVID. There’s an important point that must not be lost here, however. In a once-in-a-century pandemic, there is going to be inevitable collateral damage. They knew there would be downsides to their decisions, but they should have explained that better. Also talked about what they did not know. Also made their recommendations more granular based upon local circumstances. I have learned from Braver Angels is that this kind of admission of missteps can be the beginning of the opportunity to find common ground. A question which he has learned to address is What did YOU do to make the situation worse?

True wisdom comes not just from knowing what experts know, but also from their admissions about what they don’t know and what they did wrong.

Acknowledgment of successes is then ignored, while acknowledgment of mistakes becomes ammunition in the culture war. Be prepared for a one sided rebuttal from those who want only ammunition, not discussion.

THIS CRISIS OF TRUTH AND TRUST

Laws of Group Polarization by Cass Sunstein -this is the 1999 version. A 2002 version can be found at Wiley Library. Cass Sunstein is coming true: if like-minded people are brought together around a shared issue like abortion, gun control, minimum wage, or climate change, their views will become more extreme over time…

There is nothing more un-American than hating fellow Americans.

He says that culture drives politics not politics drives culture. But politics can amplify the effects of culture. The goal of this book is to turn the focus away from hyperpartisan politics and bring it back to the most important sources of wisdom: truth, science, faith, and trust, resting upon a foundation of humility, knowledge, morality, and good judgment.

HOPE MAY COME FROM THE “EXHAUSTED MIDDLE”

Collins debate partner, Wilkenson says to combat that feeling of disconnect we should shut off the news and talk with your neighbor. Group: More in Common has a program called Hidden Tribes in America. That notes that we tend to hear more from the fringe and and the ⅔ of the center. Collins says we are the red, blue and tired.

THE GOAL OF THIS BOOK

This book aims to help. It aims to be a guide to those four bedrock sources of wisdom our civilization has depended on for centuries: truth, science, faith, and trust. The exhausted middle tends not to be heard and is tired of hearing distorted versions of wisdom. Tim Keller is the inspiration and driver for this book. During a quiet time, Collins thinks that Don’t waste your time. You may not have much left. Recently a person whom I have had contact with died. Collins' statement resonates with me.

CHAPTER 2 – TRUTH

Talks about various thoughts which are not substantiated in fact, such as flat earth, leaders being aliens and various people finding youth through the drinking of children’s blood.

SEEKING TRUTH ABOUT TRUTH

what is truth? How do you understand what is true? Or a claim of truth or fact? Does it even exist?

Science is a way to discover truth. Also faith is.

Does truth matter? What do we expect from those who relate to us in the matter of truth, lies and fact? Is it relative?

How do I relate to saying true things?

DIFFERENT LEVELS OF TRUTH

He divides truth up into levels:

• Necessary truth. These are things which are bed rock, seriously indisputable. Such as gravity or the pythagorean theorem

• Firmly established truths-such as smoking causes cancer. There may be some fringe dispute such as was 9/11 and the people walking on the moon staged? The concept of reasonableness comes into play. To a Flat Earth person, their belief seems reasonable.

• Uncertainty. Such as something seems to be true, but has not been shown to be. This can be things like dark matter and energy.

• Opinion. Things which a person holds, but which another person may dispute. Did masking prevent COVID? Do tattoos make you look better?

POSTMODERNISM AND EROSION OF THE CONCEPT OF OBJECTIVE TRUTH

This compartmentalization of truth is too neat for the modern world. Outright dismissals of objective facts when they conflict with personal opinion seem to be escalating. Talks about what postmodernism is. It means that nothing is inherently true. Nothing, even established scientific fact can be trusted. It is all a social construct.

Collins notes that he does not personally know of any scientists in physics, chemistry or biology he would believe this. A satire piece by Alan Sokal was published, Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity. This led them to believe that in liberal journals, they were more interested in the politics than the facts. At that point, Sokal and virtually all scientists would say, postmodernists have no business tinkering with reality unless and until they can come up with a better hypothesis and then prove it—which, as a rule, they don’t and can’t.

Collins points out the irony of the situation. Postmodernism started off as a liberal construct. But conservatives have adopted it. The first wants to make things like climate change absolute; the later holds to absolute truth, but thinks about things as alternate facts.

THE CATEGORIES OF UNTRUTH

Talks about six categories of falsehoods-he would say untruth.

1. Ignorance. He considers this something which we all have to deal with as we do not know everything. But we should admit what we do not know.

2. Falsehood. This covers a wide swath. But it basically is talking/sharing about things which can be demonstrated as not being true. If you share it you own it. You need to research before sharing.

3. Lying. Purposeful distortion of facts.Or worse, making up information.

4. Delusion. This is when we think something is true, but it is not. Dunning-Kruger effect is the name for this. We think we do better on a test than what we think we did, for example. Extreme forms are considered mental illness. Apparently most of us suffer from this kind of delusion: Faced with a topic where we have no special expertise, we tend to overestimate our ability

5. Bullshit. Where we try to be impressive and exaggerate.

6. Propaganda. Massive attempt to spread lies and falsehood, a lot of times for political purposes.

TRUTH REALLY MATTERS, SO WHY IS IT SO HARD TO DISCERN IT?

All civilizations in order to progress must have the ability to discern truth. Distrust of experts causes this loss of truth. Doing your own research does not take priority over those who are experts in their fields. My thinking is that we tend to go to places which we agree with rather than places where we will gain understanding.

I THINK, THEREFORE I AM BIASED

Descartes thought that while we can often be misguided about facts, the proper method for coming to truth is through rationality. But Hume later countered this with Reason is, and ought only to be, a slave to the passions. In Hume’s view, passion is our values and desires. Therefore we filter incoming information in a way that is not all that rational.

This leads to When faced with incoming information, we have a bias toward what resonates with what we already believe to be true. Important to note that being rational, despite Mr Spock, leads us to where we wanted it to go in the first place.

Collins is more in the Descartes camp, but sees that we react negatively to information which shows our values and work are in question.

Willard Van Orman Quine - spiderweb of belief. Collins and Wilkenson both show their web of belief. This shows what is core and what is marginal. Generally the core will not be shaken, but that which is towards the edges can be. Let’s recognize the obvious reality that we are creatures with context—our family background, our life experiences (including traumas), our social networks, our own moral compass, and our religious beliefs.

INFLUENCES THAT WORSEN OUR ABILITY TO FIND THE TRUTH

He uses the metaphor of an elephant leading the rider to talk about how often our desires lead our reasoning.

A few decades ago, there were only three major networks where we got our major news from. Now everybody can have a megaphone. This has led to hawking of sensationalizing the news rather than a measured approach. We also have a tendency to give equal weight to arguments rather than understanding that not every argument holds water. This has led to candidates on the wings being given more than their share of votes leaving those in the middle to choose only polarizing views. A former US president was documented to tell 30,573 lies in four years, repeating claims that had been definitively shown to be false—as if truth doesn’t really matter anyway as long as political goals are achieved

HOW TO SPEAK UP FOR TRUTH

So what should you do if you are in a circumstance where someone is putting forward information that you’re quite certain is factually incorrect? This is a key item. I have a tendency to aggressively question which is not always productive. It just makes me feel superior which is not the objective to a good understanding which is what I want.

Now, when considering a disagreement, I need first to look at myself—is my conclusion really based on objective evidence, or is it the answer I want? And then I have to consider the background of the individual I am speaking to, and how this particular topic may be attached to one of those nodes in their web of belief. If it is attached to a central node, it will be very hard to revise. I will have to do a lot of listening, and then hope that both of us will learn something. This takes a lot of patience and practice. I have not mastered this. Also you need to understand where the points are on that person’s web. How do you do that, if you do not have a relationship with them?

Confronting backfires. Understanding builds bridges.

Being in the know can be an adrenaline rush, an addiction.

WHAT, THEN, CAN THE INDIVIDUAL DO?

1. Try constructing your own web of belief. Notice which nodes you place near the center; those are beliefs you hold particularly dear. Ask yourself about whether those fall in the circles of necessary truth,firmly established truth, uncertainty, or opinion. Ask yourself what kind of information would cause you to revise your web, especially for those central nodes. What did your web look like earlier in your life? What aspects do you think will be likely to change in the future?

2. Consider the general question of how to decide whether to accept the truth of a surprising new claim. Have you looked at the evidence? Are you open to new understandings? Engage in viewpoints which are different from yours. If you’re conservative, include some responsible progressive sources in your media diet, and vice versa. Responsible sources run corrections when new information comes up. Christopher Hitchens’s rule, sometimes called Hitchens’s Razor: “What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.”

3. When you encounter a circumstance where there is a significant difference between you and someone else about what you each consider true, approach the discussion with openness and generosity of spirit. Do not demonize. Get to know the other person and compare notes and thinking.
   
   

Collins view of Quinne’s web is that they are upheld by seven pillars: goodness, truth, family, freedom, faith, love and beauty. Collins does not say where he gets these foundational items from. When discussing things try to bring them to the foundational values which you both share.

CHAPTER 3 – SCIENCE

Talks about his development from a youth to a scientist. His parents had him develop lifelong habits of curiosity and joy at learning new things. This is a good thing to have. To be curious. I think being curious leads one to a better understanding of God.

FROM QUANTUM MECHANICS TO MEDICAL GENETICS

THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT

Talks about how he went from Chemistry to medical school to working towards cures of some conditions to being the head of the Human Genome Project. The question he asked of himself was, Was this the greatest scientific opportunity of my generation, or a fool’s errand that was doomed to fail? He took the job.

He noted that the Human Genome Project was open. Late in the project, a company led by Craig Venter wanted to dominate the market and make it private. This was contrary to what Collins thought was best. Collin’s group was able to sequence it and the Human Genome is public.

Collins said that he was continually struck with a sense of awe that is hard to put into words about the human genome and the implications of it.

I believe that when history looks back at the achievements of science in the twentieth century, three will stand out: splitting the atom, going to the moon, and sequencing the human genome.

THE GENOME TELLS ME SO: WE ARE ALL ONE FAMILY

Regardless of the physical appearance or ancestral background of the individual, we found the parts of the genome that are most important for function to be 99.9 percent the same. I wonder what that says about our individuality?

He notes that differences can be attributed to differences in climate and condition. Such as blocking the sun against skin cancer or more sun so that vitamin D is readily available; resistance to certain tropical diseases and so forth. Those arguments invariably led to assessments about which groups were superior and were used to justify such abominations as slavery. He notes that race is a fuzzy concept. Such as where does one skin tone stop and another begin. Also white , brown and blackness is relative to location.

The revelation that all of us humans are part of one original family should provide an opportunity to reduce the conflict and bias that have afflicted us over millennia.

Collins realized that he was blind to how he viewed race. He did web-based tests designed to reveal the residual presence of unconscious bias, based on responses to a standard set of questions. One such test is Harvard’s Project Implicit.

Why should the topic of race concern us in a book about truth, science, faith, and trust? He postulates that we as humans are most honorable when we help those outside of our tribe. Such as in the Good Samaritan.

SCIENCE AND HUMAN HEALTH

Science can and does lead to new truths, and to wisdom—but it can be abused. Talks about how the human genome project was able to find a therapy for cystic fibrosis. Explained the cause. This led to the drug Trikafta which is saving lives, including the life of one of my friends. To Collins this is the hope and promise of science, truth, faith and trust.

GENE THERAPY AND SICKLE CELL DISEASE

Defining the molecular causes has turned out to be a lot easier than finding therapeutic solutions. There have been 680 abnormalities identified and about 500 approved therapies.

Talks about sickle cell anemia. Looks like through CRISPR a remedy may have been found.

REMARKABLE PROGRESS IN PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF COMMON DISEASES

Cancer is another disease which is due to an abnormality. But it is not at birth, but because sometimes the body does not replicate its own DNA perfectly resulting in cancer. If you are diagnosed with cancer today, it is important to have your cancer cells completely analyzed at the DNA level. Because of understanding how the genome works, precision oncology is possible. That is something to celebrate. For anyone who is quick to be skeptical of Big Pharma, or the medical profession, or the government-funded research that drives these medical advances, the undeniable progress that continues to be made across so many disease fronts should be a reminder: by and large, our ecosystem of medical research works, and it can work wonders. In Collins opinion, these scientific discoveries can be trusted as a reliable source of objective truth. Not sure what he means by objective truth here.

THE CRITICAL NEED FOR RIGOR IN NEW MEDICAL ADVANCES

These impressive breakthroughs for cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, and cancer are inspiring, but they mask a lot of hard work, false starts, and, sometimes, deep disappointments. Collins notes that a lot of therapies look promising initially, but fail when tested rigorously. There is the hope by many people that something they heard about may provide a cure or relief. Collins says that danger lurks in those situations if the intervention has not been put through the kind of rigorous randomized double-blind testing …

He gives an example where there was initial success for bone marrow transplants. Because the certainty of death was high, even though the process had not been subject to rigorous testing it was approved/ Later on it was shown that it did not have an effect on outcomes. There was a lot of pain and expense with the process. Think about this example when someone proposes an intervention for an illness in you or your family—has it been tested rigorously.

THE LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE

Talks about how the levels of trust in science and scientists have gone down.

VACCINE DISTRUST AS AN IMPORTANT CASE

There has been no more devastating example of that phenomenon [fear of the results of Science] than Andrew Wakefield’s 1998 paper in The Lancet, asserting on the basis of a dozen cases that the childhood MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) vaccine was capable of inducing autism. Through this paper, there has been a growing fear of vaccines and less children are getting vaccinated. Fears of the dangers of vaccines are exploited by individuals like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a lawyer who has no medical training but who carries a name that conveys instant surrogate credibility. I wonder how Collins would have written this now that Kennedy has been confirmed as the Secretary of Health and Human Resources?

Collins raises the question of why is Kennedy more listened to than medical people?

DO SCIENTISTS ALWAYS DESERVE OUR TRUST?

John Ioannidis paper Why Most Published Research Findings Are False. Collins says that most of what is said is that the research is done on less than a meaningful number of study participants.

He says that all scientists want to expand human knowledge. All???

Talks about misconduct by scientists. This happens, but he thinks this is the rare exception rather than the rule. Misconduct makes headlines. He talks about one of the people he was supervising was caught up in misconduct and was exposed when an editor noticed something not right.

damage has been done, but science is ultimately self-correcting. It is this self-correcting part which I think can be fragile. Sort of like democracy can be self-correcting, but look at what happened in Germany when it was overpowered.

SCIENCE AND ETHICAL BOUNDARIES

It’s not enough to be sure that an experiment was properly done, and that the data are right and properly analyzed. One has to ask: Was the experiment ethical? I suspect that these days the ethics may be overshadowed by how much fame it may bring the researcher or how much money to the sponsor company. After WWII the question was what to do with the Nazi research which was useful, but lacked ethics.

Talks about a Chinese scientist who used CRISPR to manipulate the DNA of an embryo to protect against HIV as being unethical. But it seems like Collins is more saying this technology is not ready for that kind of use rather than that it should not be used on animals, let alone humans. Note: As I am writing this on March 5, 2025, a commercial biological group announced that it wa able to genetically engineer a mouse which would mimic some of the cold-withstanding attributes of a woolly mammoth.

He has a zinger on one of Musk’s companies which is trying to do neurological implants to extend human capabilities. Collins says: But some among us (I’m talking to you, Elon Musk). Number two in the list of Trump appointees, let alone the zingers Collins has against Trump, not by name.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE—PROMISE OR PERIL?

Collins states the yin and yang of Artificial Intelligence. Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that can produce original and diverse content, based on the patterns and information learned during a training process. The original content can include text, photos, videos, code, data, or 3d renderings.

Collins has used AI to gain insight, but has also had issues, such as bogus references. This leads one into the rabbit hole of how do you know what is true and what is false.And there lies the dangers. AI learns by what is done in the past and what is in its database. If there is inaccurate information, it will assume it is true and use that. Self-generating inaccuracies as factual.

He does show that AI can simulate seintent through a conversation which Google engineer Blake Lemoine had with its AI LaMDA. Hal9000? In 2001 Space Odyssey. How far away?

fourteen indicators of a conscious state-Elizabeth Finkel’s article on If AI Becomes Conscious, Will We Know?

COVID-19, THE WORST PANDEMIC IN MORE THAN A CENTURY

Not sure that his conclusion would be agreed upon that the COVID virus was a natural virus. If I understood the various intelligence agencies reports, it was that the probabilities were small that it was a man-made virus.

BRINGING THE WHOLE SCIENCE AND MEDICAL ECOSYSTEM TOGETHER TO FIGHT COVID-19

Talks about how and why the COVID vaccine was developed and the urgency which accompanied it.

Also about the missteps of the CDC, first with a kit to developed, then reversing the direction on the need for masks.

Defends how the measures for flattening the curve worked. Compared Sweden who was more open with its neighbors. He feels that the measures were mostly correct.

Great Barrington Declaration-one of the authors I know because he went to my parent’s church. This document declared that all of the restrictions were ill-advised and we should gain herd immunity. Restrictions should be placed to protect the vulnerable, such as the elderly. Wikipedia said that the name was from a town in Massachusetts.

COVID-19 mRNA VACCINES SHOW REMARKABLE EFFICACY

Crows about the effectiveness of the COVID vaccine. Estimates are that it saved 230,000 lives.

Still there are theories about the harmful effects of the vaccines. So where did we go wrong? In the management of COVID-19, how did truth and trust get all tangled up with misinformation, fear, and anger? Why were mandates and vaccines accepted in other countries and not in ours? Public health experts felt an obligation to try to limit the spread of the disease. So mandates were imposed—but that only further heightened the resistance and the distrust.

Some studies show that political affiliations had a higher death rate from COVID.

This circumstance is utterly contrary to the way a person or a nation should respond to a threatening pandemic: political party should be set aside in favor of clearheaded and objective assessment of the facts

THE IDENTIFICATION OF THERAPEUTICS FOR PEOPLE SICK WITH COVID HAD ITS OWN INTENSIVE PROGRAM

Briefly talked about six drugs which somewhat helped with COVID. But then some of the things which were being pushed but were worthless.

SCIENCE COMMUNICATION STUMBLED DURING COVID

Collins admits that there was miscommunications on his and others in the scientific and medical communities. I have to point the finger at myself and my other colleagues as well

we public communicators failed to explain our own uncertainty about recommendations that were being made on the fly. … We also failed to recognize and adjust for the vastly different circumstances that people faced around the country.

And then the CDC web site, where you were to get information was pretty obtuse. It was hard to find what you needed to know or it was out of date.

There is a long time database which acted as a first place where any and all possible side effects of vaccines were recorded by anyone. VAERS was set up as a sentinel database, a canary in the coal mine. This was a voluntary database, where any person or physician who observed an unexpected medical event. The CDC used it to see if there were any symptoms being reported which they should follow up on. So all kinds of things get put in there. Such as a person having appendicitis after being vaccinated. It is what alerted researchers to a very rare side effect concerning the heart to young men. But the rest of what is in the VAERS database appears to be a random snapshot of the kinds of medical events that would happen in any period of a few weeks for hundreds of millions of people. Yet that’s not how the data has been interpreted by skeptics.

It was disheartening to Collins to see people going to places which had no expertise or knowledge of the conditions and getting advice from them. Then having Politicians piled on with a shocking willingness to distribute information that served their own purposes but was of unproven validity.

This loss of an anchor to facts and evidence should never have happened in a society based upon reason and knowledge

THE GREATEST SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGE OF THE COMING DECADES

Talks about various other problems which we are having a hard time getting agreement on. First is climate change. He looks at this as a Christian problem, or more accurately a problem as a Christian which should be faced. He says we must approach this as a steward. In fact, that was the very first commandment God gave to humanity. Ruling means responsibility. He says that this is not a liberal concept rather it is a matter of physics. The thermometer is an objective and nonpartisan instrument, and its measurements over time have been recorded and assessed.

Talks about the ramifications of not dealing with the issues. Which is more severe weather and making places inhospitable for humans. He says there is scientific agreement that we are in trouble, There are others who have a different view. Upon closer inspection reveals that many of the individuals involved in climate disinformation have a history of working in the tobacco industry, where they followed the same approach for years to deny the connection to lung cancer.

Several strategies are being pursued to induce doubt. One is that warming isn’t really happening, and the reported increases in global temperature are all wrong because measurements are only taken in urban heat islands. Another objection is that this is a natural cycle.

HOW, THEN, SHALL WE RESPOND

Responding to climate change

First of all, we need to face this challenge rationally and openly. Do not ignore.

Talk about it. Christian Katharine Hayhoe has advised in her TED talk. That “There’s no silver bullet, she says, but there’s a lot of silver buckshot.”

Some resources:

• sciencemoms.com
• www.biologos.org
• rare.org

CONCLUSION

Science gets personal for Collins-he had prostate cancer.

To me a lot of this chapter was like trying to generate the excitement for Science which was prevalent in the 60’s. There was the feeling of a cheerleader for Science. But something which Collins did want us to take away is that Science doesn’t always get it right, but it is self-correcting. The conclusion was that in the long term, it can be trustworthy.

He does differentiate between Science as a field of study and the science which gets promoted as the answer to all of life’s problems, a new religion replacing faith. Even the most enthusiastic supporters of science must be careful not to end up in a place that denies those other ways of finding truth

CHAPTER 4 – FAITH

Talks about the current state of believers in the United States. They were fearful that their way of life was threatened, and they were angry. A pastor tried to address that in his Sunday sermons. Each Sunday the pastor sought to reanchor his congregation in these principles of truth, love, grace, and wisdom. But is Jesus’ words only for his era? Can we honestly say that today is worse than that ancient era of violence and oppression. Collins’ point is that our country’s best hope for reconciliation is if people of faith try to live by Jesus’ words.

Right now, you might be asking yourself, especially if you are not a Christian, “Does this chapter on faith really belong in a book on truth, science, trust, and wisdom? He hopes that if you are not a person of faith, that you will at least understand what people of faith are trying to do.

He talks about two goals of this chapter. First, matters of faith, and explain why I believe they are of crucial importance. No matter your personal view, I hope you will agree that the question of God’s existence cannot be considered unimportant. Second, I hope to reflect on how believers can integrate their faith into other sources of wisdom. Faith must work hand in hand with truth, science, and trust.

NONES, UMS, AND DONES

Talks about people leaving religion, particularly the Christian faith. He ended the last section with the GK Chesterton quote of The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult; and left untried. From What's Wrong with the World. This section is a takeoff from that quote about how people see the faith not being lived.

Talks about the differences between the three of this section title.

G. K. Chesterton famously quipped that when people stop believing in God, they do not believe in nothing. As Collins notes in his notes that this does not seem to be something which Chesterton said but that Chesterton has several statements which are similar.

Barna Group, a Christian research organization, hypocrisy was the number one reason cited by nonbelievers that made them skeptical of Christianity. But just behind that was the sense that the church is antagonistic to science. This is a pretty sad indictment of Christians.

MY OWN FAITH JOURNEY

Walks us through his own journey of faith. A lot of it is influenced by CS Lewis.

To resolve who created the Creator, the Creator would have to be unconstrained by space and time. I wonder, is eternity and infinity two descriptions of the same thing? Pascal point of ever expanding?

He talks about how there are certain things which are set up in our universe which if they were different, our universe would not exist, at least in anything like how we would know it. He gives us the example of gravity. Gravity made it possible after the Big Bang for matter to coalesce into stars, galaxies, planets, and ultimately us. But what would happen if the value of that gravitational constant was just a little different?

He goes through how even with multiple universes, we do not solve any of the problems of how our universe came to be as it is.

Werner Heisenberg said The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass God is waiting for you. This may be apocryphal.

Collins does not think there will ever be a proof which could stand up to logical or mathematical scrutiny. Eugene Peterson writes, “If God had wanted to communicate with us ‘inerrantly’ he would have used the language of mathematics, which is the only truly precise language we have. But of course you can’t say ‘I love you’ in algebra.

PUTTING SERIOUS FAITH AND RIGOROUS SCIENCE TOGETHER

As a young Christian he had the support of his local fellowship. His scientific friends argued, the study of DNA leads to conclusions about human origins that are in irreconcilable conflict with the Bible, so your head is going to explode.

He early on decided that Genesis 1 and 2 did not need to be read as literal days to be true to the meaning God was trying to provide. In my view, and that of many scientists who are serious Christians, evolution was just the “how” that God used to make this “why” come into being. This point of view has been called theistic creation but Collins thinks that a better term is evolutionary creation.

In a few paragraphs he tries to come to show how he thinks evolution can be the how of Creation.

John Walton have compellingly argued that the story of Genesis was intended for its original audience to be much more than an account of material origins. Interesting that Walton and Collins both think in terms of Creations as building a great temple. Which does not really surprise me as Collins admires N.T. Wright. Recently I read a book by N.T. Wright on The Challenge of Acts. Wright argues that what got the early Christians in trouble with both the Jews and Gentles was they were proposing that God was building a new temple, the temple resided in believers. This would fit in with what Walton is saying, I think.

Collins goes back to something which Augustine wrote in On the Literal Meaning of Genesis. Augustine wrote: In matters that are obscure and far beyond our vision, even in such as we may find treated in Holy Scripture, different interpretations are sometimes possible without prejudice to the faith we have received. In such a case, we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side, that if further progress in the search for truth justly undermines this position, we too fall with it. Sounds like if God has not revealed a clear-cut truth or there is enough of a dispute, do not go to war over it.

THE HISTORICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND FAITH IS NOT AS ROCKY AS YOU MIGHT THINK

Traces the history of Science-Faith conflict, which is really more recent than most people know. Francis Bacon said that God has in fact written two books, not just one. Of course, we are all familiar with the first book he wrote, namely Scripture. But he has written a second book called Creation. (Bacon, The Advancement of Learning) Both books can be used to learn about the Creator Bacon argued.

Note: The American Scientific Affiliation has a magazine called Perspectives. In the 1980’s, I think, they published an article which traced how the conflict between Christian thinking and evolution developed. The article pointed out that originally there was no concern with evolution by Christian thinkers. The author indicated that certain evolutionists wanted to use this issue as a wedge.

He notes that the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC has an exhibit and Science and the Bible. In looking at some of their web pages, Collins Bible as well as th eHuman Genome is shown. A web page there is on Scripture and Science: Re-examining the Relationship . Evidently the one Collins references in the book is no longer active.

Shows that some of the discord has been more because of personalities or personal philosophy than science and faith.

Until 1834 science was called natural philosophy.

He likes Pascal.

Talks about the impact of Darwin. Initially Christians were comfortable with an Old Earth interpretation. But the Scopes trial in 1925 caused a series rupture. Then talks about Henry Morris and Michael Bebe.

WAIT A MINUTE—WHAT DO ATHEISTS THINK OF ALL THIS?

Collins references several discussions he has had with atheists:

Dawkins in Time Magazine, November 2006

Podcast on Unbelievable? Richard Dawkins & Francis Collins • Biology, Belief and Covid: Can science and faith be reconciled?

 

He has had private conversations with Christopher Hitchens.

Collins conclusion is While we disagreed profoundly about many things, I’ve always thought that in science or in faith, it is good to spend time with people who have a very different view than you do.

IS ATHEISM LOSING GROUND?

Collins recommends listening to Gospelbound podcast in which [Molly] Worthen talks with Collin Hansen about how she went from being an atheist to Christian.

I do not think Collins addresses this question. Also I am thinking this is the wrong attitude. It is not a battle to see who wins and who loses, rather it is much more a sense of getting people to consider who Jesus is and letting the Spirit work in them. The getting people to listen does mean that you need to have a good reason for them to listen to you.

DON’T YOU HAVE DOUBTS?

Talks about his experience with doubts and how it was useful to have a fellow believer walking with him as they both worked through their doubts. Doubt,” said theologian Paul Tillich [in his book Systematic Theology] , “is not the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith.” In my experience, periods of doubt have often led to an opportunity to learn more about my relationship with God, and to end up with faith that is even stronger

PERCEPTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY TODAY

Collins notes that there is a caricature of American Christians who is somewhat true of some, but does a disservice to many who live out their lives quietly and faithfully. When looking at who does good work in a community, most of the time, it is Christian based according to Collins. He does not give a reference for this. I would be interested in seeing it more than some anecdotally.

Collins thinks that there is a tendency in some segments of the Church to disconnect themselves from the truth. Such as in some people’s response to COVID.

BUT IS THE GAP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND FAITH REALLY THAT WIDE

Notes that in a 2012 Ecklund found about half of scientists considered themselves as part of a religious tradition. The pandemic though widened the gap with many in society disparaging science. Collins felt that we Christians have not benefited from our heritage; that we lack strength in spiritual formation, critical thinking and scientific literacy.

IS THERE HOPE FOR FAITH TO RECLAIM THE HIGHER GROUND OF LOVE AND GRACE

Collins writes about longings felt for something more than materialism can provide. Dr Murthy, the former surgeon general, says that loneliness is the equivalent of smoking 15 packs of cigarettes a day.

Faith has no meaning, has no effect on character, and provides no window to wisdom, unless it’s based upon truth.

FAITH AS A SOURCE OF TRUTH AND WISDOM

What questions can science not answer? Here are the ones Collins says: Why is there something instead of nothing? What is the source of morality? Do good and evil have any real significance, or are these just evolutionary drivers that have been wired into our brains? What is the meaning of life? How, then, should I live my own life? Where do I turn when everything seems to be coming apart around me?

I like what Brooks says about the Sermon on the Mount: once you have read them, you cannot unread them. Collins gives several other examples from Scripture which tends to indict us and how we live.

IS THERE A CHANCE FOR RENEWAL

Tim Keller, “The Decline and Renewal of the American Church,” 2022. Keller suggested a direction that might be taken to renew the vibrancy of the Christian church. This includes revitalizing neighborhoods, Christians meeting together for fellowship and study, churches which are vibrant, and spreading the joy of faith.

Keller had something which he envisioned called the Christian Mind Project. Keller decried the fact that evangelical Christianity has developed a significant anti-intellectual cast. The goals of his proposed Christian mind project would be to increase the number of Christians forging a robust intellectual culture across the humanities and the sciences, providing an opportunity for real Christian scholarship and a “salt and light” contribution to the academy.

IMAGINING THE FUTURE WE HOPE FOR

This section starts with that God is in charge. But Christians have done so much to damage the credibility and appeal of their faith. Collins differentiates between the Biblical and political versions of Christianity. Collins imagines, maybe channeling John Lenon’s version a bit, what would our society look like if Christians lived Biblically.

• First, the divisions and animosities in our society could be bridged, reaching across that divide with love and understanding. He thinks of conversations such as those with Braver Angels or what he had with Christopher Hitchens.
• Second, imagine we could recover our deepest compassion for those suffering among us. See the parable of the Good Samaritan.
• Third, there would be no room for race distinctions or prejudice. Particularly in the church.
• Fourth, we would focus our discourse on truth, and we would refuse to distribute information that might not be true. He likes the saying In God we trust; all others must bring data. From W. Edwards Deming
• Fifth, we would reject the too-ready mindset of catastrophe and apocalypse. Do we really believe that God is in charge?
• Sixth, we would insist on real leadership that models moral character
• And finally, we would seek to recapture devotion to the two great commandments as Jesus taught us. Love God; Love Our Neighbor.

CHAPTER 5 – TRUST

To go with Truth, Science, and Faith, we also need to learn what can be trusted. Fundamentally that means we’d have to figure out what sources to trust—both individuals and institutions.

WHEN WAS TRUST HONORED OR BROKEN FOR YOU?

He encourages us the reader to think of particular places where this happened. He gives a couple examples from his life. He ends this section with how he was portrayed on a Bill Maher documentary where he was asked to talk about the relationship between faith and science. Instead he was blind-sided by areas he knew very little about, such as the dates of New Testament authorship. His conclusion is that he needed to be doing more research before trusting in productions like this.

HOW DO WE DECIDE WHOM TO TRUST?

He re-asks the question, what would be your own examples of justified or broken trust?

He talks about four interlocking components of trust: integrity, competence, aligned values, and humility.

He talks extensively about competence. Basically if an expert stays in their lane, that is competency. But if they start talking about things which is outside of their area of expertise, beware. Beware of celebrities who weigh in on a topic outside their own area of particular skill, whether they are movie personalities or NFL quarterbacks advising about oddball nutrition schemes, or people who are famous for being famous suggesting that everyone should have a full-body MRI scan. I wonder what he thinks about the three who issued the Great Barrington Declaration? Seems like they were mostly in their area of competency.

We can look up almost anything on the Internet. But do we find competent people there giving information? Do we have the competency to evaluate both their information and their competency?

humility, the honest recognition of one’s limitations. That is a hard one to figure out both for others and for one’s self. When I was working, I felt that there was almost anything I did I could become a subject matter expert. And I did become knowledgeable. But now I do recognize that there were severe limits on my knowledge.

We have a tendency to accept information from those who align with our own thinking. This is not something which he really fleshes out. How do you approach getting knowledge from sources which conflict with your own values without sacrificing your own values? How do you validate your own values? …

CAUSES OF DISTRUST

Where does distrust come from?

earned distrust-that where sources have shown themselves to be untrustworthy. But this may be selective about who will distrust a source. Such as Blacks after the Tuskegee study.

distrust is not merited or earned-This is where a source is attacked more to further a cause than as a result of something the person did. He uses Anthony Fauci as an example.

TRUST IN INSTITUTIONS

An institution has rules and standards that enhance the ability of society to make progress. Collins points out that institutions seem to invite distrust by Americans. Despite flaws, their widespread destruction would lead to anarchy.

… certain institutions have had their missions overtaken by an emphasis on performance rather than service. This can be a cause of distrust and a wider distrust than the institution in question. This is shown by the fact that only the military has a level of trust by more than 50% of Americans at this time. What can institutions do to regain trust? For starters, they need to look unflinchingly at themselves. Are they being true to their mission?

TRUST IN SCIENCE

Science is taking a hit. Apparently there is a difference in people’s minds between science and scientists as people are more willing to follow scientists than science.Going back to our list of four criteria that we use when making a decision about granting trust. Apparently there is more of an adverse reaction that science does not align with people’s values. This is showing up in Climate Change as well in how we react to medical issues which affect society.

HOW ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD

Edelman Trust Barometer

FINDING TRUSTWORTHY INFORMATION IN A WORLD OF CONFLICTING MESSAGES

A few sections ago, I said that Collins does not address how to know what source is trustworthy. He talks about that here. He talks about an experiment he needed to find out how reliable it was. He talks through his process. I am not sure how I would apply what he was saying as a non-scientist without the resources and databases he had. He agrees with this conclusion. He also notes that headlines are not the place to look for definitive interpretations of scientific results.

He suggests going to expert sites or sites which have an interest in the results, such as the American Cancer Society or the National Cancer Institute for cancer information.

Also keep an open mind. Science always evolves on a subject.

He talks about the 2020 election and the surveys over who and how they won. His conclusion is that us note that to have this kind of dramatic partisan difference about a matter of objective truth tells you that there must be some kind of serious cognitive bias at work. Reflect and verify. Understand how things align with his four criteria.

To judge political bias, take a look at adfontesmedia.com

I still do not think he gives broad based guidelines to determining trust in a source of information.

SUMMARY: TRUST AND THE ROAD TO WISDOM

Trust decisions need to be thought out rather than rushed. Trust your gut” might at times be a reasonable starting place, but it’s the most likely to be colored by cognitive bias, so it should almost never be the end point. Listen to your gut, but then try to verify it.

The poet and novelist Wendell Berry, writing about climate change, makes the point: “If we are serious about these big problems, we have got to see that the solutions begin and end with ourselves. From Our Only World: Ten Essays

CHAPTER 6 – HOPE AND A PLAN OF ACTION

Engagement with those who may not agree with you means for a person to be open to facing those opinions. In Collins words, to run towards conflict. After the dialogue before, another Braver Angel moderator and Collins had a discussion. Later on it got into a podcast. Francis S. Collins and Travis Tripodi, “Can We Fix What Covid Broke?,” January 9, 2024, Parts 1 and 2, on A Braver Way (podcast), Episodes 8 and 9, hosted by Mónica Guzmán. This was an exchange of ideas, sometimes disagreeing and sometimes finding common ground. This is in contrast with the “I have to win” arguments.

This sets the tone for the rest of the chapter.

CAN JUST ONE PERSON MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Can one person make a difference? There is a tendency to say not much. A group called More In Common calls this the exhausted majority.

Tracy Chapman and country music star Luke Combs sang a duet of her iconic song “Fast Car.” Not sure what in the world this has to do with his point. I just like Tracy Chapman and this song. And that may be the point-there are places where people can come together and just enjoy each other. A common bond.

Disengagement does not breed wisdom. Even if there is wisdom to be shared, it is wasted.

H. L. Mencken’s famous quote rings true: “For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.” Do not gloss over problems because they are big. Note: the actual quote appears to have come from a series of essays called Prejudices: Second Series in the third chapter called“The Divine Afflatus”, there is the line: Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong.

Thoughtful, committed citizens? Changing the world? That should be you and me. That’s an opportunity. It’s also a responsibility. Collins had just quoted Margaret Mead’s words about committed individuals changing the world.

One of Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous exhortations was this: “Do one thing every day that scares you.”

REANCHORING YOUR WORLDVIEW

Collins says that there is such a thing as truth and it really matters. He says that this is central, without it is worthless trying to engage. Note, however, that there are two really serious ways to destroy the concept of truth. One is to call everything in all of the circles equally true. The other is to call nothing in any of the circles true. He continues on and says that: Those are the human values that were depicted as the seven pillars in chapter 2. Truth is most definitely one of them, but there are more: love, beauty, goodness, freedom, faith, and family.

DISTINGUISHING FACTS FROM FAKES

it is also good to be aware that none of our minds are as rational as we would like

Technology, while being of benefit and bringing the availability of news to us, was not primary for our benefit. In its current iteration, it is to gain economic profit. This affects what we see and hear.

mental immunity … The way to prevent those mind infections from taking hold is to maintain a mental immune system that can come to your defense. That immune system is built upon the importance of finding the truth. But how do you do this? Is skepticism the way? Doesn’t that create its own conundrums?

One way Collins talks about is pre-bunking. Preparing for bogus information. But what does that mean? Consider a hypothesis, such as climate change. Consider the arguments which can be used against this. Make sure you understand the counter-arguments and their flaws. But this really only works if you already hold something which is true. If you hold a falsehood as being true, how can you change then and find truth?

order to distinguish facts from fakes, it is essential for all of us to tap into multiple sources of information.

To counter what I said two paragraphs above, Collins says Therefore, a full implementation of our “facts versus fakes” initiative must consider not just a process for selecting new information to add to our store of reliable facts, but also how to subtract things that we have erroneously brought on board in the past.

Many posts are designed to elicit outrage. Unless you know it is true, do not spread it.

ENGAGE WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS

To move from our current divisiveness to an era of empathy and understanding, it is essential for more of us to become comfortable having conversations with people who have very differing views from ours.

Once you overcome the apprehension of talking with (not against) others of diverse opinions, you become a different person. This kind of outreach can tap into your natural curiosity about human behavior.

In these engagements with family and friends, keep in mind that your goal is to listen, to understand their perspective, but not necessarily to change their mind. Personal insight changes people, not arguments against a person. The goal is to listen to understand, not listen to respond.

A good question is how did you arrive at your opinion? Start by saying that you are interested in having a meaningful conversation about difficult topics.

HELP THE KIDS

Talks about the rise in depression in children. Two areas which Collians/Jonathan Haidt see as leading causes is lack of free play and the rise of the smartphone, particularly the self-facing camera.

distinguish correlation from causation - sort of a throwaway comment while looking at various studies.

ENGAGE WITH YOUR COMMUNITY

Our society is in need of a new approach to community interactions, but as individuals we can feel powerless to achieve that. The antidote is to link up with other individuals who also are motivated to address our current polarization. Advocates using bridging groups to talk through issues.

He does not say which this Dignity Index is. There is a web site by that name. On this site they have an 8 part continuum of how we communicate from dehumanizing to complete understanding.

Talks about a book called the After Party which Sherri has read.

ENGAGE WITH YOUR NATION

If our nation’s political system has lost much of its commitment to truth, compromise, and civility, it is up to us to turn that around. If individuals do not stand up, then the extremes on both wings of liberals and conservatives will be heard. A critical part of the revitalization of government is to focus on electing leaders who are people of real vision, who can inspire us with specific, actionable, positive plans for our future …

Character is more than just saying things which the news wants to broadcast. Excusingunethical behavior for the sake of expediency towards a goal will lead to failure of the system.

He talks about Desmond Tutu’s four-fold way of reconciliation. We read Tutu’s book, The Book of Forgiving in our book group. This involved confessing our wrongs and forgiving others. Collins says that it feels like a pretty difficult leap at the present time, but it’s worth contemplating how we might get there.

MAKING A PERSONAL COMMITMENT

Collins starts with a Martin Luther King, Jr quote: Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. In some ways, this is Collins' kumbaya moment. Only by working together can we correct the tilting our nation has gone through.

His suggestion is to gather your friends together, like in a book club or church group and talk.

To hold yourself accountable, he says to make a pledge. He has a sample pledge in the book or a copy at Braver Angels.

He ends the book with what is called a four-fold Benedictine blessing By Sister Ruth Marlene Fox, OSB

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

He belongs to a book club which reads like a who's who of interesting people. People such as Peter Wehner (The Death of Politics), Philip Yancy (Finding God in Unexpected Places), and David Brooks (The Road to Character) to name a few which I have read. That would be an interesting group just to sit in a corner and listen.

 

 
Evaluation:

To me, Francis Collins is one of the heroes of the COVID pandemic. He exemplified what it meant to be a scientist and person of medicine. In this book he describes his Braver Angels dialogues with those who have different views. Collins freely admits there were places where their messaging was wrong and how they issued their directives was not tailored to the wide variety of situations in this country.

He is writing this book to help us understand how we can be wiser in our dialogues, starting with individuals-he does not seem to have too much faith that the politicians will exhibit this. He says the way to this wisdom is through truth, science, faith and trust. These are built on the pillars of truth, love, beauty, goodness, freedom, faith, and family. His final chapter suggests ways to affect change in this country: listen and interact with those of differing opinions; and get involved in change.

I think he has the right ideas. I do not think that Collins provides enough evidence that what he proposes will make any difference. He seems to suggest that if enough people interact, that will be enough to counter the divisiveness which has flooded the United States.

One should read this book for no other reason to help you get your head on straight during these times of misinformation and distrust. He does help you to work through issues with science and how to evaluate real science from fantasy. What Dr Collins wants us to do is to start listening and interacting, not arguing, with those who we do not agree with. That is a worthwhile goal.

A side note: After reading this book, I am taking an OSHER course called Peaking Inside the Black Box with Dr Hendrickson of Arizona State University. There is parallel information, but more in depth and oriented towards science, than what Collins presents. Hendrickson presents material which is easy to understand for the lay person. I recommend this course.

 
Notes from my book group:

What surprised you when you read this book?

The goal of this book is to turn the focus away from hyperpartisan politics and bring it back to the most important sources of wisdom: truth, science, faith, and trust, resting upon a foundation of humility, knowledge, morality, and good judgment. Do you think he provides a way for this to happen? If so, in what ways? If not, how does he fall short?

He starts out by talking about scientific failures. Why does he start the book this way? How does he define what a scientific failure is? He does say failure is not an affront to science, it’s an element of science. How does he portray that failure is foundational to science?

This is a book about the sources of wisdom. He then presents truth, science, faith and trust and core to establishing wisdom. How come he thinks they are core? Are they in your opinion? He then includes seven pillars: truth, love, beauty, goodness, freedom, faith, and family. What part do these play in his core values?

We are in serious trouble when some believe that their faith requires them to distrust science, or when others believe that political allegiances are a better source of wisdom than truth, faith, or science. Talk about this statement.

Describe how Collins portrays what Braver Angels is trying to do. What do you think of their goals? Do you think it is achievable?

Have you watched An Elitist and A Deplorable Walk Into A Bar from Braver Angels? What did you think of the discussion?

In the above discussion, Collins says that There’s an important point that must not be lost here, however. In a once-in-a-century pandemic, there is going to be inevitable collateral damage. How do you respond when there are mistakes made in an emergency situation? How should officials respond when they make a mistake?

Collins also says that people should ask: What did YOU do to make the situation worse? How would you answer that for the COVID crisis? How can this question be asked of ourselves as we go forward?

Cass Sunstein: if like-minded people are brought together around a shared issue … their views will become more extreme over time. Do you disagree with this statement? How do the people in a group know that their views are becoming more extreme? How has this hypothesis been borne out in the United States? How can we change this situation?

How can you tell if someone wants to have an open dialogue with you?

Truth

How does Collins define truth? How does it differ from your thinking of what truth is? What are some of the other ways the word truth has meanings? How can we know what truth meaning we are talking about?

He divides up how truth is used into four levels. Describe them. Is this how you see truth being used?

Describe what postmodernism is. In what circumstances would postmodernism have an accurate view of the world? An inaccurate view? How has it affected the discussion on truth?

Collins has six levels of untruth. What are they? Do you agree with his classification? Is this useful?

Describe what cognitive bias is. How does it affect what we see as being true? ASU’s Dr Hendrickson noted that cognitive bias will lead us to not examine what we deem is true or discard things which we think are not true. How does this lead to a distorted sense of what is accurate in our world?

Dr Willard Van Orman Quine has a graphical representation of a person’s spiderweb of belief. Have you tried drawing one for yourself? What did you find?

In the past, several ways have been used to present an accurate view of things:

• Rationalism
• Reliabilism
• Coherentism
• Empiricism

Each has shown some fallacy. How can we find a way to see an accurate way of presenting a truth? What are some of the ways can truth be found?

You now have figured out something which you believe is substantially true (“the sky is blue”). Someone presents an argument that contradicts your belief (“the sky is green”). How do you talk with that person? What does Collins recommend?

Science

Collins notes that working on the Human Genome Project that he was continually struck with a sense of awe that is hard to put into words. What about Science would cause this kind of reaction in a person? What causes awe in your life? Note: In Gary’s mind, this probably says a lot about a person, sort of like a library or mountains does to him.

One of his conclusions is that all humans, regardless of race, are practically made up the same. He hopes that this conclusion will help bridge racial misunderstandings. Do you think it will make a difference?

What Science success does Collins talk about? What are the hopes for Science that Collins shows in the book? Do you agree with his optimism?

Collins states that scientific discoveries can be trusted as a reliable source of objective truth. On what basis does he make this statement? Do you agree or disagree? Why?

science is ultimately self-correcting. How is this process described in Collins’ book? Do you think it works?

Describe rigorous randomized double-blind testing. Why does Collins feel this is the gold standard for the testing of results? Does this rigorousness exclude some of the helpful treatments which may be useful now?

Many medical and scientific breakthroughs get reported in the popular press or social media. How can you evaluate if what is being reported is meaningful?

What is misinformation? What misinformation does Collins talk about? What was the effect of this misinformation? How can we identify misinformation?

One of the takeaways from the COVID pandemic is that Science and societal concerns do not always match up. How should these be resolved? Does Collins shed any light on this?

Faith

Many Christians fear the loss of the place of Christianity in this nation. Is this a valid fear? This question can be talked about in many ways: is Christianity losing its place? Is this something to be feared? What is the place of reliance on God to care for believers?

Collins says that I hope to reflect on how believers can integrate their faith into other sources of wisdom. Faith must work hand in hand with truth, science, and trust. What does this integration look like?

Hypocrisy and lack of support for science are two areas cited by the Barna group as reasons why people no longer want to be associated with Christianity. Do you see these at work within Christian groups? How so or why do you think people leave the Church?

Can you think of a proof to show that God is there and active?

Genesis 1 and 2 has been a point of dispute among some Christians and the science community. Collins takes the view that Genesis tells us the “why” the worlds were created and evolution tells us the “how”. He calls this evolutionary creation. Do you view Genesis telling us the “how” of creation? Do you think Collins gives an understandable and plausible explanation for his view? He backs his view with a quote from Augustine on interpreting Genesis. Do you think Augustine’s quote fits in? (... we should not rush in headlong and so firmly take our stand on one side, that if further progress in the search for truth justly undermines this position, we too fall with it. )

Paul Tillich says that Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith. Is this true of what you have found? What causes you to doubt something?

In places throughout the book, Collins notes a tendency for Christians not to value the mind. Tim Keller notes that evangelical Christianity has developed a significant anti-intellectual cast. Have you seen this in your life, in your fellow Christians lives? How can we strengthen our minds to at least match the world around us?

Collins differentiates between the Biblical and political versions of Christianity. What in politics today do you see where our politics match Biblical standards? Where do you see that they are not how Jesus would have practiced politics? What is politics?

Collins sees seven areas where Christians can influence politics. Do you think these, if practiced by Christians, would bridge the divide we currently have? If not what would? How can these be practiced by Christians?

Trust

Who do you trust, whether an individual or institution? How did you determine that you can trust this entity?

Was there a time you were burnt by someone/something you trusted? Was the trust ever rebuilt? If so, how?

Collins described four interlocking components of trust: integrity, competence, aligned values, and humility. Do these adequately describe what trust is about? Are all of them of equal importance?

One of these components is that the entity has their values in alignment with yours. How do you approach getting knowledge from sources which conflict with your own values without sacrificing your own values? How do you validate your own values?

Institutions, such as the US governments and churches tend to be widely distrusted. What can institutions do to regain trust?

Lately, science has been distrusted by a segment of our society. Much of it seems to be in the area of aligned values. How can science regain its ability to inspire trust?

Where do you get your information from? TV, social media, podcasts, news sources, …? How do you evaluate if it is reporting information fairly? Do you try to get information from a source which does not align with your own values? How was that experience? Did it change your opinion?

CHAPTER 6 – HOPE AND A PLAN OF ACTION

Collins says to discuss topics with those who do not agree with you, you have to be open to facing other opinions. How do you become a person who can take in and evaluate other people’s opinions based upon merit, not on your own bias? Are you becoming such a person?

What are the events where you enjoy other people? What do you do? Give an example of how diverse these events are? How can you attract people with other opinions to places you enjoy?

Today, it seems like speaking truth is an ignored quality. Collins says that there is such a thing as truth and it really matters. How can we make truth matter in what we do?

Collins talks about mental immunity. What is this? How can we inoculate our mind? What do we need to inoculate our mind from? How can we be sure we are not fencing ourselves off from truth?

Collins says The goal is to listen to understand, not listen to respond. What skills do you need to become a good listener? How hard is it not to respond? Collins suggests a good question to ask is how did you arrive at your opinion?

Do you use explosive words? Do the sources of information you listen to use words which incite? Try evaluating a speech, a post or an article you have recently read on the Dignity Index. How does your own words rank on this index?

What things does Collins or his partners advocate for you to do? Do you think any of them are worthwhile doing?

What have you found moving in this book? What actions has it led you to consider doing?

Did this book motivate you to do something which you would not have done before?

Did the format of the book with a few chapters and many many sub-subjects work for you?

Do you think a person who does not have a religious underpinnings will find this a useful book?

Would you have wanted to be in Collins’ book club?

How do you want your life to change because you read this book?

Many of these questions are either from or adapted from LitLovers.

Why the title of The Road to Wisdom?

Does this book explain how to obtain wisdom?

Did the ending seem fitting? Satisfying? Predictable?

Every book has a world view. Were you able to identify this book’s world view? What was it? How did it affect the book?

In what context was religion talked about in this book?

How did Collins’ religion affect how this book was written?

Was the book overtly religious?

How did it affect the book's message?

Why do you think the author wrote this book?

What would you ask the author if you had a chance?

What “takeaways” did you have from this book?

What central ideas does the author present?

Are they personal, sociological, global, political, economic, spiritual, medical, or scientific

What evidence does the author use to support the book's ideas?

Is the evidence convincing...definitive or...speculative?

Does the author depend on personal opinion, observation, and assessment? Or is the evidence factual—based on science, statistics, historical documents, or quotations from (credible) experts?

What implications for you, our nation or the world do these ideas have?

Are these idea’s controversial?

To whom and why?

Are there solutions which the author presents?

Do they seem workable? Practicable?

How would you implement them?

How did this book affect your view of the world?

Of how God is viewed?

What questions did you ask yourself after reading this book?

Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?

What was memorable?

 

New Words:

• postmodernism-a late-20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism that represents a departure from modernism and has at its heart a general distrust of grand theories and ideologies as well as a problematical relationship with any notion of “art.”
• precision oncology-The goal of precision medicine is simply to deliver the right cancer treatment to the right patient at the right dose and the right time.

Book References:

• Why the Past 10 Years of American Life Have Been Uniquely Stupid Essays by Jonathan Haidt
• On Bullshit by Harry Frankfurt
• The Constitution of Knowledge by Jonathan Rauch
• The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion by Jonathan Haidt
• The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going by Ryan Burge
• Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith by David Kinnaman
• Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America by Russell Moore
• Surprised by Joy by C. S. Lewis
• Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
• The Resurrection of the Son of God by N. T. Wright
• On the Origin of Species by Darwin
• Pensées by Blaise Pascal
• Fundamentals
• The Genesis Flood by Henry Morris
• Darwin’s Black Box by Michael Behe
• Language of God podcast
• The God Delusion by Dawkins
• God Is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens
• The Language of God by Francis Collins
• 2012 book Science vs. Religion: What Scientists Really Think by Ecklund
• The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll
• The Constitution of Knowledge by Rauch
• The Life We’re Looking For by Andy Crouch
• The Power of One by Frances Haugen’
• I Never Thought of It That Way: How to Have Fearlessly Curious Conversations in Dangerously Divided Times by Mónica Guzmán
• The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics by Curtis Chang, Nancy French
• Post-Truth by Lee McIntyre

Good Quotes:

• First Line: More tears are shed in a science laboratory than you might think.
• Last Line: And the blessing of God the Supreme Majesty and our Creator, Jesus Christ the Incarnate Word who is our brother and Saviour, and the Holy Spirit, our Advocate and Guide, be with you and remain with you, this day and forevermore
• failure is not an affront to science, it’s an element of science. CHAPTER 1 - SEARCHING FOR WISDOM IN A TROUBLED TIME
• True wisdom comes not just from knowing what experts know, but also from their admissions about what they don’t know and what they did wrong. CHAPTER 1 - SEARCHING FOR WISDOM IN A TROUBLED TIME
• Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith. Paul Tillich, Systematic Theology
• Faith has no meaning, has no effect on character, and provides no window to wisdom, unless it’s based upon truth. CHAPTER 4 - IS THERE HOPE FOR FAITH TO RECLAIM THE HIGHER GROUND OF LOVE AND GRACE
• If we are serious about these big problems, we have got to see that the solutions begin and end with ourselves. Wendell Berry, Our Only World: Ten Essays
• Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a well-known solution to every human problem—neat, plausible, and wrong. H. L. Mencken, Prejudices: Second Series chp “The Divine Afflatus”
• there is such a thing as truth and it really matters. CHAPTER 6 – HOPE AND A PLAN OF ACTION, REANCHORING YOUR WORLDVIEW

 

Table of Contents:

• CHAPTER 1 - SEARCHING FOR WISDOM IN A TROUBLED TIME
• DERIVING WISDOM FROM FAILURE
• MY NONLINEAR LIFE JOURNEY IN SEARCH OF WISDOM
• COVID AND THE CRISIS OF PUBLIC TRUST
• CURSING THE DARKNESS DOESN’T HELP
• THIS CRISIS OF TRUTH AND TRUST
• HOPE MAY COME FROM THE “EXHAUSTED MIDDLE”
• THE GOAL OF THIS BOOK
• CHAPTER 2 – TRUTH
• SEEKING TRUTH ABOUT TRUTH
• DIFFERENT LEVELS OF TRUTH
• POSTMODERNISM AND EROSION OF THE CONCEPT OF OBJECTIVE TRUTH
• THE CATEGORIES OF UNTRUTH
• TRUTH REALLY MATTERS, SO WHY IS IT SO HARD TO DISCERN IT?
• INFLUENCES THAT WORSEN OUR ABILITY TO FIND THE TRUTH
• HOW TO SPEAK UP FOR TRUTH
• WHAT, THEN, CAN THE INDIVIDUAL DO?
• CHAPTER 3 – SCIENCE
• FROM QUANTUM MECHANICS TO MEDICAL GENETICS
• THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
• THE GENOME TELLS ME SO: WE ARE ALL ONE FAMILY
• SCIENCE AND HUMAN HEALTH
• GENE THERAPY AND SICKLE CELL DISEASE
• REMARKABLE PROGRESS IN PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF COMMON DISEASES
• THE CRITICAL NEED FOR RIGOR IN NEW MEDICAL ADVANCES
• THE LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE
• VACCINE DISTRUST AS AN IMPORTANT CASE
• DO SCIENTISTS ALWAYS DESERVE OUR TRUST?
• SCIENCE AND ETHICAL BOUNDARIES
• ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE—PROMISE OR PERIL?
• COVID-19, THE WORST PANDEMIC IN MORE THAN A CENTURY
• BRINGING THE WHOLE SCIENCE AND MEDICAL ECOSYSTEM TOGETHER TO FIGHT COVID-19
• COVID-19 mRNA VACCINES SHOW REMARKABLE EFFICACY
• THE IDENTIFICATION OF THERAPEUTICS FOR PEOPLE SICK WITH COVID HAD ITS OWN INTENSIVE PROGRAM
• SCIENCE COMMUNICATION STUMBLED DURING COVID
• THE GREATEST SCIENTIFIC CHALLENGE OF THE COMING DECADES
• HOW, THEN, SHALL WE RESPOND
• CONCLUSION
• CHAPTER 4 – FAITH
• NONES, UMS, AND DONES
• MY OWN FAITH JOURNEY
• PUTTING SERIOUS FAITH AND RIGOROUS SCIENCE TOGETHER
• THE HISTORICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND FAITH IS NOT AS ROCKY AS YOU MIGHT THINK
• WAIT A MINUTE—WHAT DO ATHEISTS THINK OF ALL THIS?
• IS ATHEISM LOSING GROUND?
• DON’T YOU HAVE DOUBTS?
• PERCEPTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY TODAY
• BUT IS THE GAP BETWEEN SCIENCE AND FAITH REALLY THAT WIDE
• IS THERE HOPE FOR FAITH TO RECLAIM THE HIGHER GROUND OF LOVE AND GRACE
• FAITH AS A SOURCE OF TRUTH AND WISDOM
• IS THERE A CHANCE FOR RENEWAL
• IMAGINING THE FUTURE WE HOPE FOR
• CHAPTER 5 – TRUST
• WHEN WAS TRUST HONORED OR BROKEN FOR YOU?
• HOW DO WE DECIDE WHOM TO TRUST?
• CAUSES OF DISTRUST
• TRUST IN INSTITUTIONS
• TRUST IN SCIENCE
• HOW ABOUT THE REST OF THE WORLD
• FINDING TRUSTWORTHY INFORMATION IN A WORLD OF CONFLICTING MESSAGES
• SUMMARY: TRUST AND THE ROAD TO WISDOM
• CHAPTER 6 – HOPE AND A PLAN OF ACTION
• CAN JUST ONE PERSON MAKE A DIFFERENCE
• REANCHORING YOUR WORLDVIEW
• DISTINGUISHING FACTS FROM FAKES
• ENGAGE WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS
• HELP THE KIDS
• ENGAGE WITH YOUR COMMUNITY
• ENGAGE WITH YOUR NATION
• MAKING A PERSONAL COMMITMENT
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

References:

• Publisher's Web Site for Book
• Author's Web Site
• Wikipedia-Author
• Amazon-Book
• Amazon-Author
• Barnes and Noble
• GoodReads-Book
• GoodReads-Author
• Washington Post Review
• PBS Review
• Kirkus Review
• YouTube Author Events
• Politics and Prose talk, Sept 28, 2024
• Book Passage talk, Oct 21, 2024
• APNews
• Answers in Genesis-negative review based upon that Collins is not a Seven Day Creationist
• Braver Angels - the pledge
• Reddit-a review/summary
• Faraday Institute