"Danyeke J. Swanson" wrote:
> So I would like to ask: What might *you* have said in a similar
> situation? What might I have said that would discourage people from such
> glib dismissals of science? I'd like to be better prepared if an
> opportunity like this arises again in the future.

I think it is correct to note that science has weakened the distinction we used to see between the living and non-living: hammers and people are indeed made of the same 3 particles.

But I don't think our understanding of physics makes us less special, it just constrains what makes us special. We are not special because of our material composition, since we are made of the same stuff as hammers. Instead, we are special because of something else - perhaps the complexity of the organization of particles in our bodies, enabling all the great things that we are - intelligent, emotional, inspired. A decent analogy might be the difference between a book vs. a pile of paper pulp and ink; the ingredients are the same, but what you do with the ingredients matters.

CT