The problem with the scientific method

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Vonz90
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The problem with the scientific method

Post by Vonz90 »

It is often stated that the problem with Christianity is Christians (and considering the theology of Christianity, this is really a truism).

Of course, the scientific method has a similar issue, that is to say scientists.

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2 ... tivity.php
BDK
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Re: The problem with the scientific method

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The instances mentioned in that article are actually ones where the scientific method was abandoned.

As an analytical tool, the scientific method may well be fool-proof. The problem is when a philosophy, also named science, interferes
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Rich
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Re: The problem with the scientific method

Post by Rich »

BDK wrote:The instances mentioned in that article are actually ones where the scientific method was abandoned.

As an analytical tool, the scientific method may well be fool-proof. The problem is when a philosophy, also named science, interferes
Nature evolves a better fool. ;)
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- paraphrased from several sources

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Vonz90
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Re: The problem with the scientific method

Post by Vonz90 »

BDK wrote:The instances mentioned in that article are actually ones where the scientific method was abandoned.

As an analytical tool, the scientific method may well be fool-proof. The problem is when a philosophy, also named science, interferes
That is kind of my point.
Aesop
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Re: The problem with the scientific method

Post by Aesop »

There is absolutely nothing wrong with the scientific method, so long as it is used rigorously according to its intended use, to test a hypothesis here and now in a laboratory.

When that method is yanked out and stapled onto prognostications about the distant past or distant future, as if that could ever work, it is utterly worthless, unless your goal from the outset was to illustrate the assumptions and prejudices of the author(s), rather than reveal objective truth.

If you want to examine history, the proper method is the legal-historical method, the same way we try cases in court.
If you're gazing into the future, the difference in results obtained between the use of a slide rule, a crystal ball, a supercomputer, and a ouija board is generally unmeasurable with existing instrumentation. In fact, as a rule, most computer models of that sort generally do worse than one would obtain by tossing a coin and guessing the result, or throwing darts at a board blindfolded.

Scientists are only scientists when they're doing science scientifically.
When they're prognosticating beyond the realm of science, knowingly, they are talking out their asses, and hiding behind a degree.

Aliens Cause Global Warming - A Caltech Michelin Lecture by Michael Crichton
"There are four types of homicide: felonious, accidental, justifiable, and praiseworthy." -Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
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mekender
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Re: The problem with the scientific method

Post by mekender »

And Aesop comes in to link the exact same speech I was going to when I read the first post.
“I no longer need to run as a Presidential Candidate for the Socialist Party. The Democrat Party has adopted our platform.” - Norman Thomas, a six time candidate for president for the Socialist Party, 1944
Aesop
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Re: The problem with the scientific method

Post by Aesop »

It's a rhetorical masterpiece and a modern classic, should be required reading annually for all STEM majors in college/university, and a dirty damned shame it wasn't videotaped in the first place to live on YouTube forever.

I have a feeling when he gave it, even at Caltech, he pissed on a lot of people's cornflakes (and research grant money).
"There are four types of homicide: felonious, accidental, justifiable, and praiseworthy." -Ambrose Bierce, "The Devil's Dictionary"
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