Science (from Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge”) is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Most people, whether religious or not, agree that the scientific method, as described above, is a Good Thing.
Unfortunately, since the nineteenth century, the scientific method has been tightly coupled with a belief system called materialism:
In philosophy, the theory of materialism holds that the only thing that exists is matter or energy; that all things are composed of material and all phenomena (including consciousness) are the result of material interactions.
The main thesis of Rupert Sheldrake’s book, Science Set Free, is that science is being held back by this dogmatic belief in materialism. Below is a TED talk in which he summarizes the book, much better than I could:
In an ironic twist, the above video was banned from the official TED channel, proving that some ideas are taboo and will be deemed “unscientific” by the establishment, evidence be damned.