Paul Dirac on ‘God and Religion’

Dirac’s 1927 statement on the great almighty

I’m going to make this piece no-nonsense and straight to the point. Everybody knows Paul Dirac as a great theoretical physicist who had groundbreaking contributions to the development of quantum mechanics and quantum electrodynamics. But we’ve talked about that part in our earlier pieces. In this short piece, I shall be discussing about Dirac’s views, or better say, brutal views on God and religion. I shall take the reference of words presented by Dirac himself at the 1927 Solvay Conference where the scientists were discussing about the religious implications of the newly pioneered quantum theory. He said,

“I cannot understand why we idle discussing religion. If we are honest — and scientists have to be — we must admit that religion is a jumble of false assertions, with no basis in reality. The very idea of God is a product of the human imagination.”

He believed that discussing religion was a waste of time and that it was a false belief system with no basis in reality. He stated that the concept of God was simply a creation of the human imagination, born out of the fear of the overwhelming forces of nature by primitive people. However, with the advances in science and understanding of natural processes, he felt that there was no need for religion.