"What is science good for?"

Asked by tuppence 11 months ago

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According to this article: http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126975.800-how-to-spot-a-hidden-religious-agenda.html it is evidently to prevent common sense from influencing people or being relied on at all:

"If common sense were a reliable guide, we wouldn't need science in the first place."

Ok, all you people. Please abandon hope, all ye who enter science. You may not think for yourself, you may not use common sense, and, above all, you absolutely may NOT challenge or in any way question the ruling paradigm....WHATEVER it is! And as for the rest of you, please remember, the ruling paradigm and those who represent it are always right and we must bow to the priests in white coats.

I'm sorry, but that article is so full of baloney and propaganda and misinformation that it ranks with 'bizarre' on the grading scale.


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"You are so far off...."
 by Ancient_Hacker on Mar 04 2009 (11 months ago)
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 You are way off any understanding of how science works.   The whole point of science is to discover new things, which by definition are DIFFERENT from the current understanding.  Not to support the current orthodoxy.    Which is a whol elot more how religion works.

 

Look at the list of Nobel prizes.   Hardly any given out to someone reinforcing the status quo-- Instead they're generally for people who took science in completely new directions.  Examples -- Einstein for photon theory-- completely against the prevailing wave theories.   Planck for quanta-- completely opposite to the prevailing theories.  Youll see this over and over.  Prizes often delayed for decades because the theories were soooo way out there it took decades to verify their correcness.  

 

  
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"Science is good at providing facts. "
 by danielpauldavis on Mar 04 2009 (11 months ago)
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Science is horrible at providing interpretations. A fossil is a fact. The interpretation that "science" gives us is shot thru with holes because these folks are unwilling to admit that they do not have enough "facts" to yet draw conclusions. The best conclusions are the ones that predict the future. For example, Albert Einstein worked up his General Theory of Relativity and from it posited that light was affected by gravity. Thus, star measurements we had made up to that point would show a correction when gravity's effect had been considered. And then we send a sattelite up to see that this star's light indeed had been bent by our own sun's gravity and it was really over there. That is when science shines. Science is a schoolyard bully when it says, "Believe me on this or you're a fool." 
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"Sounds a little like Amazon TOS"
 by Pidgey on Mar 03 2009 (11 months ago)
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TOS = Terms of Service.

 

But did you really say that?

 

Yes, "Creationist" sets up a red flag in me too.

 

Some science, where they accept no argument, and by golly, the universe is a mere 7000 years old, tops.  But don't you argue with that, you heretic, you.

 

http://www.emophilips.com/home
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"The Question - What is Science good for? The Answer:"
 by gandg22 on Mar 04 2009 (11 months ago)
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Just about everything positive that humans have ever achieved!

(What's difficult is for humans to determine what is actual science, and what is bogus science.)

 

Any expanded explanation is not really necessary.
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