Belief in Reincarnation Tied to Memory Errors
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People who believe they have lived past lives as, say, Indian princesses or battlefield commanders are more likely to make certain types of memory errors, according to a new study.
The propensity to make these mistakes could, in part, explain why people cling to implausible reincarnation claims in the first place.
Researchers recruited people who, after undergoing hypnotic therapy, had come to believe that they had past lives.
Subjects were asked to read aloud a list of 40 non-famous names, and then, after a two-hour wait, told that they were going to see a list consisting of three types of names: non-famous names they had already seen (from the earlier list), famous names, and names of non-famous people that they had not previously seen. Their task was to identify which names were famous.
The researchers found that, compared to control subjects who dismissed the idea of reincarnation, past-life believers were almost twice as likely to misidentify names. In particular, their tendency was to wrongly identify as famous the non-famous names they had seen in the first task. This kind of error, called a source-monitoring error, indicates that a person has difficulty recognizing where a memory came from.
Power of suggestion
People who are likely to make these kinds of errors might end up convincing themselves of things that aren’t true, said lead researcher Maarten Peters of Maastricht University in The Netherlands. When people who are prone to making these mistakes undergo hypnosis and are repeatedly asked to talk about a potential idea—like a past life—they might, as they grow more familiar with it, eventually convert the idea into a full-blown false memory.
This is because they canÂ’t distinguish between things that have really happened and things that have been suggested to them, Peters told LiveScience.
Past life memories are not the only type of implausible memories that have been studied in this manner. Richard McNally, a clinical psychologist at Harvard University, has found that self-proclaimed alien abductees are also twice as likely to commit source monitoring errors.
Creative minds
As for what might make people more prone to committing such errors to begin with, McNally says that it could be the byproduct of especially vivid imagery skills. He has found that people who commonly make source-monitoring errors respond to and imagine experiences more strongly than the average person, and they also tend to be more creative.
“It might be harder to discriminate between a vivid image that you’d generated yourself and the memory of a perception of something you actually saw,” he said in a telephone interview.
Peters also found in his study, detailed in the March issue of Consciousness and Cognition, that people with implausible memories are also more likely to be depressed and to experience sleep problems, and this could also make them more prone to memory mistakes.
And once people make this kind of mistake, they might be inclined to stick to their guns for spiritual reasons, McNally said. “It may be a variant expression of certain religious impulses,” he said. “We suspect that this might be kind of a psychological buffering mechanism against the fear of death.”
sources:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070406/sc_livescience/beliefinreincarnationtiedtomemoryerrors -
No comments on those who use hypnosis to access past life.. hehe. I think it is possible that many people who gone through some other methods of accessing past life are actually memory errors.
There are however many cases of those whose past life memories are traced and proven to be true, also memories accessed through deep meditation are not vague memories but even clearer than you are sure you had a cup of coffee this morning. -
how do they prove that past life memories are true? maybe those people who has vivid experiences is experiencing what is called full blown false memory.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:No comments on those who use hypnosis to access past life.. hehe. I think it is possible that many people who gone through some other methods of accessing past life are actually memory errors.
There are however many cases of those whose past life memories are traced and proven to be true, also memories accessed through deep meditation are not vague memories but even clearer than you are sure you had a cup of coffee this morning. -
Those memories mentioned above are probably vague and easily changed. So no comments on them. In deep meditation you can enter deeper levels of your consciousness in such depths that you when penetrate deeply into the subconscious, it is even possible to 're-live' the entire scene in the past life, as if you are totally present there with your body, conscious, not like a dream.. it is clearer than our usual recalling of past events and leaves no doubts in one's mind. In some cases it can be even traumatic because you 'relive' a traumatic part of past life.. such as fighting in the war. Then you are really physically there - fighting the war, not vague like in dreams but as if you are watching a movie with your entire body present there... as real as it can be. One of my highly enlightened friends (longchen.. he talked to you in my forum before) had such a recalling of fighting war in WW1 in France.Originally posted by january:how do they prove that past life memories are true? it has been stated that in the article what is called full blown false memory
As for how to prove they are true.. simple.. like I said there are many cases which are proven to be true, by tracing what you recalled about the past life to the source.. like for example, you remember worked in a company called "X" in Germany, your name was Rainald von Dassel, you lived in a terrace house at Z Street. Then, you do a search and found out there really was a company in Germany called "X", there really was a worker there called "Rainald von Dassel" who died in 1970, he lived in a terrace house at Z Street, your ex family members etc, etc etc, that leaves no doubt.
There are many many such accounts. One guy who researched into such accounts was Ian Stevensons, who died a few months ago. But he was not the only one and more and more people in many countries even in the Western countries like United States where the concept of rebirth and reincarnation is not part of their judeo christian traditions, are starting to believe in rebirth and reincarnation because of what they've seen... and these guys aren't Buddhists or Hindus or what. (Also see http://www.ial.goldthread.com/) Another thing is sometimes you recall your past life and realise many things you never knew before, and when you check it out, it turns out all that you remembered is true. Anyway I posted this news article before about a boy who fought in world war.. which I will post subsequently.
Anyway here's some more to read...
http://www.buddhanet.net/e-learning/qanda05.htmQuestion:
You have talked a lot about rebirth but is there any proof that we are reborn when we die?
Answer:
Not only is there scientific evidence to support the Buddhist belief in rebirth, it is the only after-life theory that has any evidence to support it. There is not a scrap of evidence to prove the existence of heaven and of course evidence of annihilation at death must be lacking. But during the last 30 years parapsychologists have been studying reports that some people have vivid memories of their former lives. For example, in England, a 5 year-old girl said she could remember her "other mother and father" and she talked vividly about what sounded like the events in the life of another person. Parapsychologists were called in and they asked her hundreds of questions to which she gave answers. She spoke of living in a particular village in what appeared to be Spain, she gave the name of the village, the name of the street she lived in, her neighbors' names and details about her everyday life there. She also fearfully spoke of how she had been struck by a car and died of her injuries two days later. When these details were checked, they were found to be accurate. There was a village in Spain with the name the five-year-old girl had given. There was a house of the type she had described in the street she had named. What is more, it was found that a 23-year-old woman living in the house had been killed in a car accident five years before. Now how is it possible for a five year- old girl living in England and who had never been to Spain to know all these details? And of course, this is not the only case of this type. Professor Ian Stevenson of the University of Virginia's Department of Psychology has described dozens of cases of this type in his books. He is an accredited scientist whose 25 year study of people who remember former lives is very strong evidence for the Buddhist teaching of rebirth.Question:
Well, have there been any scientists who believe in rebirth?
Answer:
Yes. Thomas Huxley, who was responsible for having science introduced into the 19th century British school system and who was the first scientist to defend Darwin's theories, believed that reincarnation was a very plausible idea. In his famous book 'Evolution and Ethics and other Essays', he says:
In the doctrine of transmigration, whatever its origin, Brahmanical and Buddhist speculation found, ready to hand, the means of constructing a plausible vindication of the ways of the Cosmos to man... Yet this plea of justification is not less plausible than others; and none but very hasty thinkers will reject it on the ground of inherent absurdity. Like the doctrine of evolution itself, that of transmigration has its roots in the world of reality; and it may claim such support as the great argument from analogy is capable of supplying.
Then, Professor Gustaf Stromberg, the famous Swedish astronomer, physicist and friend of Einstein also found the idea of rebirth appealing. Opinions differ whether human souls can be reincarnated on the earth or not. In 1936 a very interesting case was thoroughly investigated and reported by the government authorities in India. A girl (Shanti Devi from Delhi) could accurately describe her previous life (at Muttra, five hundred miles from Delhi) which ended about a year before her "second birth." She gave the name of her husband and child and described her home and life history. The investigating commission brought her to her former relatives, who verified all her statements. Among the people of India reincarnations are regarded as commonplace; the astonishing thing for them in this case was the great number of facts the girl remembered. This and similar cases can be regarded as additional evidence for the theory of the indestructibility of memory. Professor Julian Huxley, the distinguished British scientist who was Director General of UNESCO believed that rebirth was quite in harmony with scientific thinking. There is nothing against a permanently surviving spirit-individuality being in some way given off at death, as a definite wireless message is given off by a sending apparatus working in a particular way. But it must be remembered that the wireless message only becomes a message again when it comes in contact with a new, material structure - the receiver. So with our possible spirit-emanation. It... would never think or feel unless again 'embodied' in some way. Our per venalities are so based on body that it is really impossible to think of survival which would be in any true sense personal without a body of sorts... I can think of something being given off which would bear the same relation to men and women as a wireless message to the transmitting apparatus; but in that case 'the dead' would, so far as one can see, be nothing but disturbances of different patterns wandering through the universe until... they... came back to actuality of consciousness by making contact with something which could work as a receiving apparatus for mind. Even very practical and down-to-earth people like the American industrialist Henry Ford found the idea or rebirth acceptable. Ford was attracted to the idea of rebirth because, unlike the theistic idea or the materialistic idea, rebirth gives you a second chance to develop yourself. Henry Ford says: I adopted the theory of Reincarnation when I was twenty-six. Religion offered nothing to the point.. Even work could not give me complete satisfaction. Work is fume if we cannot utilize the experience we collect in one life in the next. When I discovered Reincarnation it was as if I had found a universal plan. I realized that there was a chance to work out my ideas. Time was no longer limited. I was no longer a slave to the hands of the clock...(continued in next post) -
(continued from previous post) Genius is experience. Some seem to think that it is a gift or talent, but it is the fruit of long experience in many lives. Some are older souls than others, and so they know more... The discovery of Reincarnation put my mind at ease... If you preserve a record of this conversation, write it so that it puts men's minds at ease. I would like to communicate to others the calmness that the long view of life gives to us.
Anyway here's the boy's story.. Boy remembers Past Life Being Shot in WWII
So the Buddhist teachings of rebirth does have some scientific evidence to support it. It is logically consistent and it goes a long way to answering questions that theistic and the materialistic theories fail to do. But it is also very comforting. What can be worse than a theory of life that gives you no second chance, no opportunity to amend the mistakes you have made in this life and no time to further develop the skills and abilities you have nurtured in this life. But according to the Buddha, if you fail to attain Nirvana in this life, you will have the opportunity to try again next time. If you have made mistakes in this life, you will be able to correct yourself in the next life. You will truly be able to learn from your mistakes. Things you were unable to do or achieve in this life may well become possible in the next life. What a wonderful teaching!
About past lives ... Uniontown WW II flyer's memories in Louisiana boy
By Judy Kroeger
DAILY COURIER
Thursday, April 15, 2004
James Leininger, 6, of Lafayette, La., loves airplanes.
"He has always been extraordinarily interested in airplanes," said James' mother, Andrea Leininger, by telephone from their Louisiana home.
Lots of kids love airplanes, but James' story is unique. He has memories of being a World War II fighter pilot from Uniontown -- Lt. James McCready Huston, shot down near Iwo Jima in 1945.
At 18 months old, his father, Bruce Leininger, took James to the Kavanaugh Flight Museum in Dallas, Texas, where the toddler remained transfixed by World War II aircraft.
A few months later, the nightmares began.
"They were terrible, terrible," Andrea said. "He would scream, 'airplane crash, on fire, little man can't get out!' He'd be kicking, with his hands pointing up at the ceiling."
When James was 2 1/2 years old, he and Andrea were shopping and he wanted a toy airplane. "I said to him, 'Look, it has a bomb on the bottom' and he told me, 'That's not a bomb, it's a drop tank.' I had no idea what a drop tank was."
Neither of the Leiningers have ever served in the military, nor are they involved with aviation. Until James began showing an interest in planes, they had nothing aviation-related in their home.
Andrea's mother sent her a book by Pennsylvania author Carol Bowman, called "Children's Past Lives." The Leiningers started using Bowman's techniques of affirming James' nightmares and assuring him that the experiences happened to a different person, not the person he was now. "It helped. The nightmares stopped almost immediately,"; Andrea said.
However, the memories did not stop, but they do not come up all the time.
"I was reading him a story and he got a faraway look," she recalled. "I asked what happened to your plane? 'Got shot,' he said. Where? 'Engine.' Where did it crash? 'Water.' When I asked him who shot the plane, he gave me a look like a teenager, rolling his eyes, 'the Japanese,' like who else could it have been?
"What little kid knows about the Japanese," she asked. "He said he knew it was a Japanese plane because of the red sun. My husband and I were shell-shocked."
James provided other information. He said his earlier name was James, he flew a Corsair and took off on a boat called the Natoma, and he remembered a fellow flyer named Jack Larson.
Foods can set James' memories off, too.
"I hadn't made meatloaf in 10 years, so James had never had it," Andrea said. "When he sat down, he said, 'Meatloaf! I haven't had that since I was on the Natoma.' When we were getting ice cream one day, he told me that they could have ice cream every day on the Natoma."
Bruce began researching his son's memories and discovered a small escort carrier called the Natoma Bay, which was present at the Battle of Iwo Jima. Twenty-one of its crew perished. Bruce also discovered that only one of the Natoma's crew was named James, James Huston.
James Huston's plane was hit in the engine by Japanese fire on March 3, 1945, went down in flames and sank immediately. Flyer Jack Larson witnessed the crash. -
(continued from previous post)
James Huston was born Oct. 22, 1923, in South Bend, Ind., and lived in Uniontown during the 1930s. His father was James McCready Huston Sr., of Brownsville, and Daryl Green Huston, who was born in New Geneva and grew up in Uniontown. James was the only son.
According to Lt. Huston's cousin, Bob Huston of Flatwoods, the elder Huston started several newspapers and published 13 books. He was living in Brownsville when two Navy officers informed Huston of his son's death.
"I didn't know James," Bob Huston said. His parents were divorced, "but I knew his father. He stayed with us in Brownsville. James was on his 50th mission and would have come home if he'd lived another five minutes."
The Leiningers have been in touch with Bob Huston.
"I knew what happened to James (Huston)," he said. "I was excited to hear from them (the Leiningers). The boy's mother was flabbergasted when all this happened."
Andrea believes that her son is the reincarnation of Lt. James Huston. "There are so many little things. I believe in reincarnation now."
Her husband, Bruce, remains skeptical. "He started researching to disprove what James was telling us, and ended up proving it all," he said. "I think he believes that James Huston's spirit has manifested itself in our son somehow."
The Leiningers have been in touch with Natoma Bay veterans, too.
"We didn't tell the veterans for a long time," Andrea said, "but everyone has a story about having had a spirit visit them. James' sister, Anne Barron, was in California talking to him the day he was killed. Anne believes James' story, because he has provided so much information that only her brother could have known.
"Families of the 21 men who were killed are talking to each other," continued Andrea. "It's brought them together."
The Leiningers plan to attend this year's Natoma Bay reunion and bring their son, James.
Andrea doesn't know why this has happened.
"If he did come back, why? Maybe it was so my husband could write the book about the Natoma Bay," she said. "It helped turn the tide of the war in the Pacific and was one of the most highly decorated carriers, but it hasn't received much recognition.";
She said her husband has been working on a chronology of what's happened to James and is researching the book. "He has flight plans from the missions and has spent a year and a half on research. In the introduction, he's writing about how he found out about the ship."
That discovery, through a toddler's fascination with airplanes and nightmares, has led to a segment on national television.
ABC contacted Carol Bowman about her work on children's past lives and James Leininger's experience was the most verifiable, Andrea said. "And we agreed to share his story."
Chris Cuomo will host the segment, which airs tonight at 10.
Judy Kroeger can be reached at [email protected] or (724) 626-3538.
------------------------
From : [email protected]
Sent : Friday, July 01, 2005 1:12:03 AM
Subject : ABC Primetime Special
Check your local listings for ABC --- Primetime - Thursday, June 30 at 10 p.m.
ET:
"Primetime Live" takes a look at "The Unexplainable":
ABC Primetime television will be rebroadcasting the story of James Leininger,
age 6, of Lafayette, La. James remembers a life as a?World War II fighter pilot
from Uniontown -- Lt. James McCready Huston, shot down near Iwo Jima in 1945.
For more information about this fascinating case, click on the following link
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/dailycourier/news/s_189477.html
Have a WONDERFUL DAY
Children's Past Lives
Forum Staff -
i think that the explanations of the children recalling the past memories may have many possible reasons. not necessarily reincarnation.
possible reasons.
the children were being talked by people abt these experiences, they were exposed to television programmes, they were deliberately told by some people about specfic past person lives.
somehow the memories of dead past person may have been passed to the children in a way that science does not know yet but it does not mean that the boy reincarnated. its just a process where memories of dead people can be transferred to some children in some ways.
lets say recarination is a viable reason.
does not mean the children in reports are reincarnated means that everyone of us are reincarnated. perhaps it only applies to very small minority
possible reasons.
the children are being talked by the parents because the parents wanted to spread the belief of reincarnation.
the point is the explanation of the incidents of children recollection of past memories contains many possible reasons underlying it and it is wrong to say that this kids experience is a proof for recarnation, and so everyone will reincranate.
the best we can do is to collect more incidents, do more tests to test hypothesis.
i think these examples does not really show that reincarnation exist. there could be many other possible reasons that are less far fetched -
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Originally posted by january:
Which is not happening in the case above.
i think that the explanations of the children recalling the past memories may have many possible reasons. not necessarily reincarnation.
possible reasons.
the children were being talked by people abt these experiences, they were exposed to television programmes, they were deliberately told by some people about specfic past person lives.somehow the memories of dead past person may have been passed to the children in a way that science does not know yet but it does not mean that the boy reincarnated. its just a process where memories of dead people can be transferred to some children in some ways.
That's close to rebirth... however memories cannot suddenly interfere into a different person of different 'radio wavelengths', and if it can happen we can all spontaneously suddenly remember another person's life, which never happened before. Also do note that reincarnation and rebirth is different. Reincarnation means reincarnation of a soul, means a non-physical entity that exists in the body called the 'self' that is eternal, and that soul incarnates into a different person, but the 'self' is always forever there. At least in Buddhism (Hinduism is more towards Reincarnation), rebirth means lighting up the fire from candle from one candle to the next. Fire is constantly flickering, changing, never staying even for a moment so you can't really say there is an entity right there, so there is no 'self' that is incarnated... just the everchangingness. 'Self' is merely just a process of Self1, Self2, Self3 that arises due to various causes and conditions, and not a soul-entity, even during the process of rebirth.lets say recarination is a viable reason.
Because consciousness is not limited to the body, it goes on after the body passes away. That's why there are many many near death reports (not just one, but a lot.. near death experiences happen to almost 25% who survive a cardiac arrest and was clincally dead, and many similarities between these experiences) of people clinically dead, they report floating out of the body and watching the medical procedures, whatever is happening, they even float out of that hospital room into other places in the hospital, but later they were revived by electrical shocks by surgeons, and they reported everything they saw when they were 'floating' and turns out everything is true. There was also some news report before of a person whose grandfather died but nobody knew where he was... but in a person's dream the grandfather told him he died at this location (some drain if not wrong), they went that exact location, and found the corpse. Such cases happen.
does not mean the children in reports are reincarnated means that everyone of us are reincarnated. perhaps it only applies to very small minoritypossible reasons.
Many such parents have no prior beliefs in reincarnation at all like the above case, and are themselves surprised by such behaviors. Only when they came across such behaviors did they get excited or interested to find out more about why such things happen.
the children are being talked by the parents because the parents wanted to spread the belief of reincarnation.the point is the explanation of the incidents of children recollection of past memories contains many possible reasons underlying it and it is wrong to say that this kids experience is a proof for recarnation, and so everyone will reincranate.
Well, past life memories that can be traced are therefore proven to be true. Next we have to understand how consciousness functions... and it is directly related to the 12 interdependent links of origination where one factor conditions another as a cycle.. and ignorance conditions consciousness and rebirth. It is the 'principle' or underlying function of consciousness that makes it such that everyone will undergo rebirth.. well unless the true nature of reality is understood and one no longer attaches to anything, and no longer has illusion of a separate dualistic self, that one can transcend dualistic consciousness (a.k.a 7th consciousness, consciousness of a separate self, which functions even at a subconscious level without consciousness of the physical body)... for such people even in dreams are not lost in the content of the dreams, undergoing fear, aversion, desire, etc due to an illusion of a self.. and can even end that dream at once. There is an unmoving awareness that does not identifies with what happens and therefore does not need to go along with the dream content.. this is so called 'nirvana'. Otherwise you really have no choice, but to continue dreaming... and continue rebirth. (In Buddhism, rebirth happens at two levels: it happens every single moment there is identification with something as self, and rebirth takes place due to that ignorance, second is rebirth takes place across lifetimes also due to ignorance) And because most people still have ignorance in them and the 12 links and dualistic consciousness is still in action, this would without any choice condition another rebirth.. both at the level of moment to moment rebirth as well as post mortem rebirth.the best we can do is to collect more incidents, do more tests to test hypothesis.
And that we will take rebirth if we have no power or control over our consciousness due to ignorance is also not far-fetched either..
i think these examples does not really show that reincarnation exist. there could be many other possible reasons that are less far fetched[/b] -
As I have said before in the Buddhism:Wisdom Bliss forum that such past life memories can be false memories similar to schizophrenia. In a way, rebirth or reincarnation can be said as a left-over cultural trait from Verdic Beliefs.
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Which is a point I have already said cannot be true in the first few posts in this thread.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:As I have said before in the Buddhism:Wisdom Bliss forum that such past life memories can be false memories similar to schizophrenia. In a way, rebirth or reincarnation can be said as a left-over cultural trait from Verdic Beliefs. -
to claim that reincarnation really exist based on these children experiences and the verification made by scientists or whoever is being too optimistic.
i okay with people investing money into knowing more about these things to learn more.
its too early too jump into conlusion. there are just too many explanantions.
i woulod be happy if i can be reincarnated. but i still adopt the worse situation which i believe is the case that is - you only have one life . -
But anthropologists from NatGeo program "Taboo" has proven otherwise.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Which is a point I have already said cannot be true in the first few posts in this thread. -
Dont think so.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:But anthropologists from NatGeo program "Taboo" has proven otherwise. -
Go watch the taboo series then.Originally posted by An Eternal Now:Dont think so.
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buddhists aim to have only 1 life la dohOriginally posted by january:to claim that reincarnation really exist based on these children experiences and the verification made by scientists or whoever is being too optimistic.
i okay with people investing money into knowing more about these things to learn more.
its too early too jump into conlusion. there are just too many explanantions.
i woulod be happy if i can be reincarnated. but i still adopt the worse situation which i believe is the case that is - you only have one life . -
Depending on which school of thought they believe in, they may try to have minimal reincarnation or reincarnate till all achieve enlightenment.Originally posted by Eric Cartman:buddhists aim to have only 1 life la doh -
So far, we have concluded that reincarnation and rebirth as a cultural phenomenon and not scientific in nature.
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At the end of the day it depends on what you want to believe in...
For instance, even if one recieved the most convincing proof of something, but for some reason chooses not to believe in it, an alternative explanation that suits out purposes better can always be easily found.
And this of course, is not limited to things that are currently (or perhaps impossible) to prove with the scientific method. Even within science there is plenty of disagreement between how to deal with the data we have or what exactly the data means.
So yes, I'm not too confident in science to give meaning to the universe, it is a useful tool, but at the end of the day a belief in the value of the scientific method as something good and valuable happens to come from a source that is quite beyond science in itself and certainly quite impossible to proof scientifically.
So it does require some measure of faith to live by science, the belief in it as a light to our world, turns out... to also be a kind of faith by it's followers. -
science has already make claim that it does not know everything.
science is about progressing our knowledge.. not claiming that it has all the knowledge...
but to go and believe in supernatural anyhow is stupid
look at sleep paralysis.. it feels like encounter with ghost right....
but science has already classify as bodily biological experience.
look at those religious pple... they can live their whole life believing supernatural things but its just a waste of their precious time....
which does not solve any of their problems.... except giving temporary relief but long term problem will persist.. -
scienctist, engineer, whoever who dun rely on praying but just own effort to do things produce more work and effort to human society than those normal middle income pple who has the habits of being religious... and do religious praying frequently.
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That is if you can even see rebirth in the first place.Originally posted by Herzog_Zwei:Depending on which school of thought they believe in, they may try to have minimal reincarnation or reincarnate till all achieve enlightenment. -
Why don't you fuck off and die and see if you can see rebirth? I am talking about the buddhists and you ask if I can see rebirth.Originally posted by Eric Cartman:That is if you can even see rebirth in the first place.
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i have read some of these stories before....the WWII one is fancinating though...
the problem is, why the reincarnated people stay in the same race and same geographic places? For example, the gal in England said she was from Spain. The WWII pilot was from US again...Has there been any cases of reincarnated people who are totally unrelated, even in race and geographic? -
Originally posted by SingaporeTyrannosaur:
kaoz, ur mind is too poisoned to think out of the "faith" and "beliefs" crap
So yes, I'm not too confident in science to give meaning to the universe, it is a useful tool, but at the end of the day a belief in the value of the scientific method as something good and valuable happens to come from a source that is quite beyond science in itself and certainly quite impossible to proof scientifically.
So it does require some measure of faith to live by science, the belief in it as a light to our world, turns out... to also be a kind of faith by it's followers.
science is not based on either of those.
It is based on EVIDENCE
not suka suka by your hunch or 'feeling', your mood or emotion, superstitions or imagination.
at the end of the day, given the overwhelming evidence, sure - you can always still chose to ignore the facts and 'believe' otherwise, but that juz goes to show how irrational and dogmatic you are.
Science does not work towards giving a meaning to the universe
instead science tries to understand and explain the behavior and characteristics of our universe.