{"id":1184,"date":"2016-12-25T10:53:45","date_gmt":"2016-12-25T09:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/?p=63605\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:06","slug":"science-is-prone-to-mistakes-god-isnt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2016\/12\/25\/science-is-prone-to-mistakes-god-isnt\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Science is prone to mistakes, God isn\u2019t’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\t\n\n<\/svg>\n<\/span>\n\tImage by:<\/span>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGeisje van der Linden<\/span>\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\t

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Name: Vicky Ariyanti<\/p>\n

Position: PhD student in Cultural Ecological Knowledge in Water Resources Management<\/p>\n

Faculty: Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)<\/p>\n

Religion: Islam<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen I get stuck when writing an academic article, I like to pray. Continually performing the same mandatory movements while saying my prayers calms me down. It\u2019s like meditation. While praying, I get to reflect on what I\u2019m doing and to contemplate what caused me to get stuck. Afterwards I will often have some insights on how to solve the issue.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\t\u2018I think discussions on religion are good for our society.\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

Religion is a way to learn to understand the world and see it as a world created by God. And if there are any questions Islam cannot answer, science can generally provide the answers. If I come across any things that seem to contradict each other, I will always stick with scripture. Science was created by people and is therefore prone to mistakes. God does not make any mistakes. I am convinced that time will eventually bring them together on the things on which they do not agree.<\/p>\n

If I discover things in my research that do not conform to my religious beliefs, and if I cannot explain why they do not conform, I will stick to my results and publish them. Through my field work in Yogyakarta, I am looking into the effect of cultures on water management. Thanks to my background, I am better able to understand the locals\u2019 religious ideas, even when they are Hindus or Buddhists. The various religions have many similarities.<\/p>\n

I always have discussions with my colleagues during Ramadan. I think discussions on religion are good for our society, so I greatly enjoy answering people\u2019s questions, thus helping us improve our understanding of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more about religious views on campus in our Christmas special<\/h2>