All Good Things
05-18-2008, 09:45 AM
That's an illustration of the progress of knowledge.
I would agree, but re-phrase slightly: it's an illustration of the progress of repeated error to "best-explained" knowledge.
Which takes us back to my original point: science is a material philosophy, a methodology, not a collection of facts or principles that have turned out to be largely wrong throughout history. The procedures and principles of scientific inquiry and validation are useful to us -- profoundly so -- at the present time but nothing beyond that.
It takes a while for budding scientists to "get" this. It took me almost my entire college career! Just like young linguists who struggle with the notion of universal grammar and the fact that the way "ordinary" people actually speak is the "true" language, not what a grammar book says, up-and-coming physicists, biologists and chemists have been indoctrinated by the Science-as-God teachers in high school and think that science and technology are revealed truths. They are obnoxiously confident that their knowledge allows them to dismiss or laugh at every other philosophy or theory or approach. Some even snort at valid competing scientific hypotheses -- something really dangerous and stupid. They are clueless about how slippery the ground is underneath them.
I wish you well in your pursuit of beauty. It is a noble one, and God knows we need more beauty in this word. It's one of many reasons that I always choose "beauty" in the "beauty or truth?" dichotomy.
I would agree, but re-phrase slightly: it's an illustration of the progress of repeated error to "best-explained" knowledge.
Which takes us back to my original point: science is a material philosophy, a methodology, not a collection of facts or principles that have turned out to be largely wrong throughout history. The procedures and principles of scientific inquiry and validation are useful to us -- profoundly so -- at the present time but nothing beyond that.
It takes a while for budding scientists to "get" this. It took me almost my entire college career! Just like young linguists who struggle with the notion of universal grammar and the fact that the way "ordinary" people actually speak is the "true" language, not what a grammar book says, up-and-coming physicists, biologists and chemists have been indoctrinated by the Science-as-God teachers in high school and think that science and technology are revealed truths. They are obnoxiously confident that their knowledge allows them to dismiss or laugh at every other philosophy or theory or approach. Some even snort at valid competing scientific hypotheses -- something really dangerous and stupid. They are clueless about how slippery the ground is underneath them.
I wish you well in your pursuit of beauty. It is a noble one, and God knows we need more beauty in this word. It's one of many reasons that I always choose "beauty" in the "beauty or truth?" dichotomy.