It has been one of my missions here, self-imposed but nonetheless fully committed, to instruct and clarify what is meant by the scientific method. Sometimes I feel more helpless than a salmon attempting to jump the Bonneville Dam. For the love of God, please understand this one thing: No scientist says that we know something. Journalists often misquote scientists as saying that we know something, but thats only because most journalists are naturally intellectually lazy and harried by deadlines. Scientists say Our best current explanation is... This is essential to the scientific method. For example, Newtonian physics works beautifully well so long as your observable Universe is confined to this solar system. Beyond that, however, Newtonian physics is inadequate to describe observed phenomena. Does this mean that everything we knew about the observable Universe through Newtonian physics is bollocks. Of course not! It only means that the model breaks down at some level and we need another model to explain how things work. People seem hellbent on demanding absolutes and dogmatic statements. I think thats most often how scientists end up being misquoted. I also suspect that the lack of absolutes causes some people to lose confidence in science, because models evolve over time and nothing stays the same. Lord, sometimes I get so tired, as Chief Gillespie says. I really am in a testy mood this today. Perhaps I should recuse myself til later, when I have recharged my goodwill batteries.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 19:30:34 +0000
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