[quote]scj119 wrote:
Science is the formulation of hypotheses, and the subsequent testing/proving of those hypotheses.[/quote]
yea yeah we know that definition. We were all told that in the 4th grade
[quote]pch2 wrote:
[quote]goldengloves wrote:
There’s no need for a regular Joe to question science when science questions itself. I can’t see how science is truly replacing a deity when science actually has a burden of proof either.[/quote]
Is this sarcasm?[/quote]
No, not at all being sarcastic. The burden of proof weighs heavy in science for something to be widely accepted, the theory will already be questioned by experts in the field numerous times before the average Joe even hears of it and continue to be questioned long after the average Joe forgets about it.
[quote]Humbert wrote:
just to introduce a non-religious opposing view:
If you look at science as we now practice it, scientific method, theory and hypothesis and evidence(which is greatly misused to “prove” certain theories, much like statistics can be manipulated to prove a study, get a grant, pass a law, etc, we aren’t having a lot of success.
Medicinal science: for all our bravado, we still get old, die, catch colds, etc. Science has provided us with vaccines that we are only beginning to understand actually cause many diseases to mutate and become more potent. After all this science, why, in 2010 do I have a cold right now?
Economic science: Would I send my kid to Harvard to get a high-end Wall Street job right now? In this global economy? WTF are they teaching up there? We, as a species, don’t understand CRAP.
Green science: I like where this is headed, but what about all the “progress” that got us in this jam in the first place? Ozone holes, ice caps melting, oil spills.
And Technology? Hey, I can watch porn on my cell phone. Yay. So can my 6-year old nephew. Oops.
Science–we aren’t doing it right.[/quote]
I don’t think you realize how amazing it is that you can easily survive almost any disease that would have decimated thousands a century or two ago.
You don’t have to worry about the measles, mumps, smallpox rubella, common cold, cholera, polio, among others.
If you were to catch some of those, of which the others are pretty much extinct, you would be pretty much guaranteed to be healed with minimal to no side effects.
If ever you were to lose an arm, given the right time frame, we would be able to save it, ensuring you’d have almost 100 percent restoration in a matter of months or years. As opposed to only having one arm, forever.
You can instantly communicate with someone across the world, while eating instant food, in a shelter that will protect you from almost anything mother nature will whip at you.
You have almost all the knowledge of humanity at your finger tips.
Need to get in contact with the best coaches in the world? No problem. Need to inform yourself on a specific subject? No problem.
Want to see what the pyramids look like? Done. Want to know how they were made? Done.
Want to travel to the other side of the world, in a matter of hours, in complete comfort and safety, and not having to worry about being attacked by bandits, taking months to years, losing your possessions or becoming violently ill? Done.
Want to have some of the best treatement we can give you? Done.
Want to be unconscious for your operation while robots with the utmost speed, accuracy and precision take care of you? Want it to be done while your body is fed a series of chemicals that will keep it strong with minimal side effects? Done.
Want instant food that doesn’t take months to grow, will not wither or die, requires no expenses or time, while giving you an abundance of protein, carbs and/or fat? Done.
Want to be able to travel at your leisure, in a mechanical beast, protected from the elements while you power through the air, listening to music stored on little disks and being air conditioned or heated, at speeds impossible to attain any living creature? Done.
Do you want to be able to purchase any clothing, to your desired specifications and while keeping out cold, wind, heat or whatever the fuck, without costing an arm and a leg? Done.
Want to be able to purchase items from across the globe and have them shipped to your door without any effort on your part? Done.
Want to know the latest in everything and anything? Done.
Want to be able to inject yourself with substances that allow you to be put on muscle mass and strength beyond what is naturally possible? Done.
Want to view things in 3d as if you were really there, from the comfort of your home? Done.
Want to play and reenact other realities with no consequences? Done.
Want to know the weather, anywhere in the world, instantly? Done. Want to know the weather in the fucking future? Done.
Have poor eye sight but want perfect vision in a matter of 10 minutes? Done.
Want the ability to see in perfect darkness? Done.
Want the ability to summon power, light and electricity? Done.
Want the ability to destroy matter in a matter (see what I did there) of milli seconds? Done.
Want to eradicate any potential threat to you and your loved ones, from miles away or up close? Done.
Want to fight almost any disease or illness? Done.
Want to jump out of a flying machine, 10 000 feet in the sky, and land safely on earth with no injuries, just for the fun? Done.
Want to be able to go under water for hours? Done.
Want to be able to survive in almost any climate on earth? Done.
Want the ability to mass produce anything, including organisms and food? Done.
Want some guy in Canada to tell you that you are a fucking idiot because you take amazing technology for granted, you spoiled idiot? Done.
[quote]Humbert wrote:
just to introduce a non-religious opposing view:
If you look at science as we now practice it, scientific method, theory and hypothesis and evidence(which is greatly misused to “prove” certain theories, much like statistics can be manipulated to prove a study, get a grant, pass a law, etc, we aren’t having a lot of success.
Medicinal science: for all our bravado, we still get old, die, catch colds, etc. Science has provided us with vaccines that we are only beginning to understand actually cause many diseases to mutate and become more potent. After all this science, why, in 2010 do I have a cold right now?
Economic science: Would I send my kid to Harvard to get a high-end Wall Street job right now? In this global economy? WTF are they teaching up there? We, as a species, don’t understand CRAP.
Green science: I like where this is headed, but what about all the “progress” that got us in this jam in the first place? Ozone holes, ice caps melting, oil spills.
And Technology? Hey, I can watch porn on my cell phone. Yay. So can my 6-year old nephew. Oops.
Science–we aren’t doing it right.[/quote]
We’re still animals with instincts. It shouldn’t come as any surprise that we don’t think outside of ourselves enough to see the larger picture/consequences of making it easier to satiate our needs in the moment. Afterall, for 200,000 years that’s what helped us survive. It’s only been in the last 200 that there’s been a problem with it.
There’s an order of interest that you’d expect from a primate, and I’d say the current state of our world reflects it perfectly: self, immediate family, extended family, and tribe.
People complain that we’re getting lazy and not interested in the happenings of the world, but that what you’d expect from a creature who had all his physical needs met. Why would he leave? Why would he rebel against the structure when his tummy is full, his kids and family are full and protected from predators, and they own enough power to feel that they wont be disturbed?
Unless it directly endangers the creature, he’s not going to give a shit, especially if changing makes him less comfortable.
Carl Sagan wrote a great book on scientific understanding called The Demon Haunted World.
‘As an example, Sagan relates the story of the invisible fire-breathing dragon living in his garage. He asks, “what’s the difference between an invisible, incorporeal, floating dragon who spits heatless fire and no dragon at all? If there’s no way to disprove my contention, no conceivable experiment that would count against it, what does it mean to say that my dragon exists? Your inability to invalidate my hypothesis is not at all the same thing as proving it true.”’
I feel a critical thing worth stating is that science tends to be without bias. The problem is in presentation of results, and biases that are introduced. For example, the phosphorus metabolizing bacteria discovered recently. Without understanding the original source, lots of people made different claims. Sagan believed that there’s a popular contempt for science and a general misunderstanding of the process. This in turn leads to mistrust and disbelief. It also leads to people accepting warmer and fuzzier pseudoscience, faith based assumptions and ideas from authority figures.
How many people do you know who basic statistics, biology, chemistry or physics? How many people do you know who know any statistics or understand logical fallacies? Could anyone tell you what confirmation bias is?
Do you know many people who believe in astrology? Mood changing rocks? How about vaccines and autism?
http://www.jennymccarthybodycount.com
If Jenny McCarthy says it, then it must be so.
We do what we can because we must.
Well no one really understands it, it’s bound to get people arguing, people who practice it are always debating over numbers and who did what when, there’s always chemistry in the beginning, plenty of physics in the middle and lots of biology at the end.
So science is like marriage and sex. Write that.
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