Trust is Not How Science Works

Science is an unending investigation.  Nothing is sacred, nothing is taken on trust.  If a well established theory is contradicted by  the evidence, so much the worse for the theory.  At least that is how science worked before the present age of fools, knaves and demagogues.

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Philip Nachazel
Philip Nachazel
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 6:00am

And when an agenda narrative is confronted with data that doesn’t support the science the technology Lords jump in and censor it.
That is evil, imo

The Bruised Optimist
The Bruised Optimist
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 7:41am

Once upon a time, when you said to a scientist “that doesn’t make sense” they would either show you how it did make sense (through evidence) or agree with you and show interest in resolving that mystery.
Recently the response to the observation that something doesn’t make sense has been a pompous shouting down and the label of “heretic”
Sounds… Like…what…they…accuse … Christians…of…..

David WS
David WS
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 9:42am

Not exactly..
We know things with varying degrees of assurance. Some things we know are probably true, some things we know as true beyond a reasonable doubt, and some things we know for sure.
There are very few things we know for sure.
Such things are usually abstract, often mathematical.
Einstein didn’t prove Newton wrong, he proved that Newton didn’t get it exactly right, and Einstein humbly realized he may not have gotten exactly right.

The problem today is of course that “science” has become a political weapon, always presented as immutable , to an audience that arrogantly think of themselves as “the enlightened” (with cell phones), but know a lot less than Newton did.

Donald Link
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 9:58am

Problem with some science today is the propagation of speculation as fact. Predictions in 2000 that the earth would reach the temperature tipping point in 12 years were worse than speculation, they were fear mongering of the worst sort. Same goes for RNA vaccines as a miracle product when even the minimum standards of effectiveness are in question. Television is an example of the previous cautionary nature of science. It was promoted as a theory in the early 1920s but no one declared it a fact until 1927 when Farnsworth demonstrated it. Further it was not until the 1939 World’s Fair that the public was willing to accept it as a future universal commercial reality. It would seem that a bit more scientific humility along with more rigorous dedication to determining reality by scientists would benefit everyone.

Rudolph Harrier
Rudolph Harrier
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 10:19am

Nate Silver of all people should know why: when your predictions are consistently wrong, anyone who cares about the proof is not going to care about your future predictions.

John Flaherty
John Flaherty
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 2:46pm

I think if we honestly examine history, we’ll find science has long been subject to…less than objective sentiment.
Scientists have their biases too.

bob kurland
Admin
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 3:22pm

“Science is the organized skepticism in the reliability of expert opinion.” Richard Feynman, Nobel Prize winner for work in quantum electordynamics.That quote says it all.

bob kurland
Admin
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 3:23pm

Or, rather, says it as it should be, but perhaps not is.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 4:34pm

Encoded in Thos. Kuhn’s model is the notion that the actuarial tables are what induces the discard of scientific theories.

bob kurland
Admin
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 4:54pm

Art Deco:<i> “that the actuarial tables are what induces the discard of scientific theories.”</i> Not true if you look from 1880 to 1970 and how revolutionary theories became accepted. E.g. Strange QM theories (e.g DeBroglie’s matter waves) confirmed by experiment (Davisson-Germer experiment).

WK Aiken
WK Aiken
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 5:31pm

Since when have the media ever been “science adjacent?” Most media operatives wouldn’t know actual science if it bit them in the perineum.

MrsOpey
MrsOpey
Friday, December 8, AD 2023 10:35pm

I do not trust the man who claimed “I am science”.
I do not trust the cdc, fda and all the other alphabet organizations.
In my book, it’s too far gone to trust them again.
When you silence opposition and dissenting voice, force an experimental medicine on people under penalty of losing your livelihood, I believe we have well past the “kiss and make up” phase. I’m ready for trials.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Saturday, December 9, AD 2023 10:51am

Clinical psychology and psychiatry have always been dubious endeavours. Climatologists began trashing their reputation about thirty years ago. Public health specialists have set a land speed record for destroying their credibility.

GregB
Saturday, December 9, AD 2023 11:02pm

Art Deco Max Planck is reported to have said: “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”
*
When people talk about following the science a lot of it appears to be political science.

Mary De Voe
Sunday, December 10, AD 2023 4:55pm

“Nothing is sacred,”
Every thing is sacred. Every person is sacred. All creation is sacred.

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