The SCIENTIFIC METHOD And Some Of Its Limitations The best method devised, so far, for finding out approximate truths, through theoretical models, is the scientific method. However, it has some limitations. For instance, it has a difficulty on investigating rare or unique events and verifying its veracity. Events, in science, need to be repeatable and collectively and expertly verifiable and testable. For example, a lioness that takes care and protects a gazelle baby is a rare event. Before the invention of photographic cameras and camcorders, a person only could report such rare events verbally. But this characterizes an anecdotal evidence ( one of the weakest and less reliable forms of evidence in science ). And today, even if equipped with a camera to register this event, the resulting photographic record is not scientifically reliable enough since a graphic software like photoshop can fake images. Another method for finding approximate truths is intuition. However, apart from being very subjective, its power and reliability varies from person to person and even from case to case. Some few people have powerful intuition and vision. They can guess a hidden mechanism or pattern in a complex process or structure or have an anticipated prediction of future events. However, most people reveal a very unreliable and fallible intuition when they try to use it to uncover the core mechanisms of complicated phenomena. Since, it is difficult to verify ones’ intuitive efficacy and, on average, intuition is quite unreliable, science does not accept an intuitive claim as representing reliable knowledge unless it gets thoroughly tested by the scientific method and gets supported by solid empirical evidence. This does not mean that intuition cannot be extremely useful and even indispensable for achieving great discoveries. Those who have true powerful intuition should use it to create plausible ( but testable ) hypothesis as far they, later on, produce solid scientific evidence to either support or dismiss it. filippidis.org/index/articles/sci-method-limit.html
Posted on: Sun, 21 Jul 2013 22:01:05 +0000
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