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There are enumerous benefits of scientific temperament, as i have read so far. Its working abilities, functionality and dealings with day to day matter is fantabulous. My question is : Do this kind of mindset carry any disadvantages at personal, societal or at different levels of human life? As everything in this world has its own benefits and disadvantages. So, scientific mind might be having its disadvantages but i am not able to think one.

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    The first thing to ask "What disadvantage is?"
    – rus9384
    Apr 21, 2018 at 1:02
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    Please explain what you mean by "scientific temperament". The phrase "scientific temper" is mostly used today in connection with the Indian constitution, into which it was written by Nehru (who was influenced by Marx). If that is what you mean then by Nehru's own definition this temper is opposite to the "method of religion", which relies on emotion and intuition. This gives you at least three areas of disadvantage for this mindset right away (although these weren't flaws in Nehru's eyes).
    – Conifold
    Apr 21, 2018 at 3:48
  • I'd want to ask exactly what 'scientific temperament' means here. It seems to me that the phrase is very often used to describe what I would call a non-scientific temperament. Who would you cite as an example of someone with an ideal scientific temperament? I would not accept that,. say, Dawkins or Stenger have scientific temperaments but would accept, say, Schrodinger and Eddington. The phrase is very vague. My answer would be that a truly scientific temperament brings nothing but benefits. Certainly someone who approaches religion without one is taking a huge risk.
    – user20253
    Apr 21, 2018 at 12:37

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Any knowledge, unless it is transformed into wisdom, has many disadvantages. The scientific mind is one such thing.

If you don't use your scientific mind to imagine the feelings of your fellow beings, it often doesn't help your mental development.

If your scientific mind is somewhat advanced, you may ask: "I cannot see other people's minds. There is no such thing as mind. Scientists cannot find such a thing. So why should I care about feelings of other people?"

If you are so much affected by 'scientific madness', you will not be willing to take a risk. Because you don't have any proof in front of you, you can't believe most of the ideas others tell you.

You may have noticed that people who don't give much importance to science live happily while those who give it have live unhappily.

Again, if you rely only on your scientific mind ....

  • Religious symbols will have no affect on you. They will be just objects made of clay, plastic, stone, metal, etc. for you.

  • You cannot respect your national flag. It will be just a coloured piece of cloth.

  • You will treat your mother, wife and daughter alike. They will only be women for you.

  • You sometimes think of others as the embodiment of particles of different masses.

In short, your life will be miserable if you focus only on science. If you want to live a good life, you must pay attention to the feelings and values of others also. We cannot easily distinguish the evils of the scientific mind, because in our daily lives emotions and values also ​​have great importance as well as the scientific mind. And they (including the unscientific mind) often come so randomly that we cannot recognize them even if we want to.

If your scientific mind has given you wisdom, your joys and sorrows will disappear. So most of the time you do not behave like others. Sometimes others may isolate you as a 'strange creature'. Your family members may also be worried about you.

What I am saying is that true wisdom is beyond the scientific mind, the unscientific mind, the good, the bad, etc.

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@crBora and to a lesser extent @SonOfThought have answers to this question that paint a very limited view of what a “scientific mind” is. They have answers that seem to suggest that a scientific mind is somehow the same as our stereotypical definition of autism.

I think for starters, you need to determine what you’re actually asking. What a “scientific mind” actually means for you is a necessary component that is required in order to answer this question. I don’t think you are at all clear about that yourself.

But what I understand to be a scientific mind, in and of itself, is neither good nor bad and has no inherent advantages or disadvantages. A scientific mind is not actually a “thing” that one can have or not have. Rather, the term refers to a way of approaching life and day to day activities with precision, curiosity, and awareness.

A scientific mind could be viewed as a very lofty goal that is akin to a mountain having no summit. How can you tell if you have a scientific mind? Certainly a scientific mind would be interested in determining the characteristics that constitute such a state. Whatever you are calling a scientific mind seems more like an ideal that you read about in a book rather than an actual approach to life.

What is science concerned with?

  1. Finding what is true
  2. Finding a sustainable, productive way of interacting with life
  3. Expanding the boundaries of what is possible for human being
  4. More - you should be asking yourself this

What are possible characteristics of the scientific mind?

  1. Curiousness
  2. Honesty and self awareness
  3. Sensitivity
  4. Clarity
  5. Many more

A human is not a thing and science is not a thing. I would recommend finding out what you are interested in accomplishing and try and approach life that way.

It’s not easy. Pay attention to yourself - I’d wager that it’s harder to keep a scientific mind present for yourself for greater than 10 minutes than you can possibly imagine.

Good luck

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A scientific mind becomes sceptical of things. They need proof for every single thing like

  • The presence of god

  • The proof of being faithful

  • The proof of everything

They can't accept "believe me" as an answer.

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So, scientific mind might be having its disadvantages but i am not able to think [of] one.

If by 'the scientific mind', you are referring to the minds of those who employ logic and evidence to assess ideas and claims, there is at least one clear disadvantage.

The purely scientific mind attempts to bypass or account for desires and biases; it may ignore what we want to be true in pursuit of something closer to an objective truth.

For example, take the theist who wants to believe in a god and a sacred text, possibly because it provides what they believe to be an unambiguous source against which to measure one's success in leading a virtuous life. The scientific mind is a mind which encourages skepticism of such sources and may lead to uncomfortable ambiguity. Regardless of whether or not the theist's desired beliefs are accurate, such skepticism upsets any certainty which might lead to contentedness.

Truth and knowledge are often uncomfortable, even undesirable in certain contexts. It is largely for these reasons we are prone to cognitive ease and the illusory truth effect. We all fall prone to - or search for - unscientific, false or unjustifiable beliefs in our pursuit of a (at least at some level) easier or more comfortable life, whether it be about the affections of an admired one, our chances of a promotion or even about our mortality.

This is not necessarily a negative phenomenon. On the contrary, it can help ease our progress through a tricky existence, although it can also trip us up by leading us astray in situations where the truth is more beneficial to our wellbeing and the wellbeing of others.

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