This workshop seems like a social experiment. It’s quite interesting. The knowledge that this workshop has given me access to has truly broken my heart and I am deeply grateful for this occurrence. I have observed the conflicts between religion and science (mainly in science) in my personal experiences and have intentionally been looking for something to help me define them for some time. This workshop has given me assurance that this problem is real and a structure to express and explore it. L1-T2 continued the damage done by Professor Koshul in L1-T1 and served as a reminder. The manner in which the knowledge was delivered was extremely effective. The lingering unanswered questions, the push to ask the right questions, and the care with which this knowledge/ training is being dispersed seem tactful and purposeful. I am finding the conflict between religion and science EVERYWHERE and in EVERYTHING. The structure and order of the ideas being delivered are simple and poignant, but ambiguous enough for me to continue to dive deeper on my own and reevaluate my own field of chemistry in its past/ present/ future states.

This series of workshops has changed the way I look at religion, science, and the relationship between the self and the other. Before I used to think predominantly in binary terms and thought that the various domains of life, including religion and science, are independent of each other. The biggest takeaway for me has been the idea that the self grows and is nurtured by relationships with others. Moreover, this takeaway allows me to see in a new light the reasons for the afflictions affecting contemporary religious and scientific communities and the efficacy of any purported solutions.

The workshop gave me the terminology and the clarity of thought to realize that all my life I had been trying to suppress "perplexity," irrespective of whether I was leaning towards the secular or the religious side (I have talked about this in greater detail in assignment 2). Moreover, I have learned to appreciate the importance of the interaction of different fields of study in addressing the big questions of life. The workshop has also highlighted the problem of hyperspecialization in our education and has encouraged me to learn about other fields in greater detail. All of the problems I've mentioned above have always troubled me during my education and I've felt extremely uneasy through the years. But I was never able to exactly pinpoint the causes of distress before the workshop. The workshop has been an ointment to my pains and the mere recognition of these problems as genuine issues has put my soul at peace.

This workshop is extremely necessary considering the effects the conflict between religion, science, and philosophy has on the individual. Before this workshop, I tended to compartmentalize my religious beliefs and my scientific beliefs. I did not think that it was necessary to allow them to synergize and that they played effectual, but distinct roles in their own particular areas. This workshop allowed me to understand the end result of compartmentalization. It also allowed me to view science in a much better way. I had often considered science as concrete. To borrow a phrase from Sheldrake, that the big questions have been worked out, and all that remains is the fine details. That science more or less knows or will know, the answer to everything eventually. However, I now realize, that science is a much more fluid field, and to think of science in fixed terms is a disservice to science itself. I think I will be more open to fields of scientific inquiry that I had dismissed as pseudoscience. In terms of religion, I had assumed that faith was a distinct part of life, and that faith was unquestionable. To question faith excluded you from being faithful automatically. I now realize that this is a very erroneous view, and with time, faith needs to be supported, and refreshed from other sources. I can understand why the demand for miracles was at an all-time high in ancient times.

Before attending the workshop, I thought that discussion would be on the direct relationship between science and religion. But now, I can say that the problem is more significant than a simple relationship. The way we see and think of both matters more. And once I had to review my habits of thought, I found out that to some extent they are wrong, even though I’ve always said that between science and religion, there should be mutual respect, but couldn't realize that I’ve always thought of Religion as a superior thing.