A friend once posed this question to me: Are religion and science philosophies; are philosophy and science religions; or are religion and philosophy sciences? I fumbled around with the question -- more of a brainteaser, really -- for a good 10 minutes or so before declaring my inability to respond definitively. My friend grinned in triumph for having stumped me, although he did seem a bit disappointed that he didn't get to argue with whatever I might have said.

The question came back to mind earlier this semester when I was reading a book for my anthropology class in which the author gives the following definition of science: "a practical search for knowledge to understand certain aspects of the world in which actors, while constrained by certain structures (conceptual, social and material) can and do transform them over time, through practice." The author continued: "From this perspective, the search for knowledge takes the form of a dynamic accommodation that people make between experience and received wisdom."

I wondered: Couldn't this also be the definition for religion and philosophy? After a few moments of reflection, I decided that it could. After all, religions and philosophies arise from individuals and groups seeking to understand the whys and hows of the world. In religion, "experience and received wisdom" are combined to establish a framework of principles that both explain physical processes such as creation and prescribe social behaviors, which then transform social structures over time. Philosophy is the same way: Thinkers such as Hegel, Locke and Dewey have had a tremendous impact on social, political, economic and educational systems around the world.

When it comes down to it, religion, philosophy and science are basically one and the same: human attempts to understand, explain and improve upon the phenomenal world and universe around us.

Each one makes both destructive and instructive contributions to human life. Science has destroyed life by facilitating the creation of weapons, pollutants and carcinogens, while simultaneously providing the medicines and technologies to alleviate suffering and offer solutions to environmental quandaries. Philosophy has lent us important insights into the nature of human thought and behavior, which have informed political systems since time immemorial.

Religion picks up where the other two leave off by offering possible explanations for phenomena that the others cannot definitively explain. It also provides many important values that guide our behavior: The Ten Commandments, for example, are essentially written into our laws. But religion is not exempt from causing damage and destruction either; it has been the cause of many deadly wars, and as we are witnessing today, is used as justification for atrocious acts of terror.

All three also adapt to changes in nature and society that occur over time so as not to become obsolete in the face of shifting evidence and norms. At one time, Ptolemy thought the earth was the center of the solar system and he developed an elaborate model that supported his theory -- until Copernicus came along and proved him wrong.

Now we know that the planets revolve around the Sun and that our solar system is part of a larger galaxy, which is part of an even greater and unfathomable system called the universe. (Or do we?)

More recently, during the Green Revolution, many scientists were convinced that fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides would be the answer to world hunger -- but 30 years later, famine still strikes the lives of millions of people worldwide, and the environmental damage done by the chemicals has left rivers polluted and large plots of land leeched of nutrients.

Religions, too, adapt: Several Protestant denominations have recently responded to the more widespread acceptance of gay and lesbian lifestyles by adjusting their doctrines accordingly.

The moral of the story is, as humans are fallible beings, we can never be 100 percent sure if the theories and beliefs we subscribe to now are correct. Neither religion nor philosophy nor science has absolute proof that its tenets are the "right" ones. Who's to say, for example, that even if the Big Bang theory is correct, a god or God didn't initiate it?

In the absence of certainty, it's worth respecting the religions, philosophies and sciences that comprise the myriad cultures that populate our planet because they all have valuable insights that lend us new and interesting ways of understanding the world.

To be sure, the basis of the book from which my definition of science came is that small-scale, sustainable inter-cropping techniques of traditional farmers in southern Mexico -- typically viewed as "backward" -- can provide "modern" science with new tools for managing food production in the wake of the failures of the Green Revolution.

It's important for all of us as students and faculty at Penn State, an institution that seeks to generate new and improved knowledge, to recognize the contribution that each field makes to human life and society; after all, we are all in this together!