Okay, we know why we don't accept the improbable, inconsistent, and sometimes downright silly myths and legends which seem to be accepted, at least to some extent, by 85% of the population.

Then there are other things, counterintuitive and so hard to describe in English that we resort to metaphor, but we accept them, at least provisionally.

For example:

- that there is enough energy in a teaspoonful of matter to blow a city to rubble

- that men have walked on the moon

- that the surface of Titan looks like the Arizona desert

- that time is reversible

- that meaningful results can be gained by using mathematical formulas that involve imaginary numbers

- that the distance between two solid objects can increase at a speed greater than the speed of light, yet neither object is travelling at a speed greater than the speed of light

and so forth.

Yet most of us believe some if not all of these things.

What is our criterion, then?

How sure are we?

Does our conscious acceptance of counterintuitive statements involve faith?

I think it is perfectly reasonable to accept things that may otherwise seem counter-intuitive, based on previous experience with similar ones. All that is required is small leap of faith, to reason that the same concentration of explosive force in small quantities of gasoline, dynamite, or hydrogen, for example, might be enhanced exponentially by unlocking the energy trapped in the atom.

Familiarity with the use of imaginary numbers in alternating current calculations is a perfectly acceptable substitute for more cumbersome methods involving vector and phasor quantities.

I think the main reason why I find it easy enough to accept the truth of some amazing scientific conclusions is the mere fact that I don't have to! No one says that I will be condemned to Hell for not accepting what is written in some holy scripture. I feel no obligation to placate any supernatural deity, to try to curry favor with any gods so that I may continue to live forever after I die. One life was enough for me. I enjoyed it, and I'm in no hurry to leave, but eternity is no more tempting tha a well earned oblivion.

I think that faith in science is the faith in the scientific method. Gather all the facts possible, test the hypothesis with every conceivable experiment, modify or discard every inconsistent theory, and never be satisfied that the last unfalsified result is the final answer. Doesn't that compare favorably with the faith that discourages experiment as a lacking in acceptance of
revealed "truth"? Chacun a son gout! IMHO.

I think that I believe things that make sense and are provable to me. If someone can explain it in a way that makes sense and back it up with evidence, I'm more likely to understand and believe it. For instance, it took me a long time to believe in moles and Avocadoes' number, and I still don't believe in the tangent curve.