Philosophy in the Park #5: Science, 'pseudo'-science and metaphysics

“No [person] ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and [they're] not the same [person].” Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher born in 544 b.c.

Theory about the nature of matter and the idea that there are indivisible parts in any kind of magnitude—geometrical extension, time, etc. relates to a term ‘atomism’ which is most often identified with the systems of natural philosophy.

For context, the first atomists in the Ancient Greek tradition theorized of two fundamental and oppositely characterized constituents of the natural world as only two indivisible bodies: atoms (read literally: "uncuttable") and void.

By contrast, the knowledge of atoms that is now taken for granted in modern science is not established by "arm-chair" philosophical argument, but from various Enlightenment thinkers (i.e. "Natural Philosophers" :p ) in the seventeenth century and then quantum mechanics early in the twentieth century.

Today, the question arises whether the atom is a function of a simulated machine and how can we know for sure?; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGfTDcHJHSI.

Questions:

1. What is this "powerful enough computer" concept and is an 'advanced civilization' analogous to the assumptions of a religion?

2. Are religious beliefs sometimes conducive to science, or do they inevitably pose obstacles to scientific inquiry?

3. What is the relationship between science and religion in religious traditions (e.g. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism,"'new-age' religion", etc.)?

Meet at the statue at Broadview and Langley south of Yonge and Bloor/Broadview.