What do you object to about science?

[Cogman]

The"hard and fast" acceptance(not belief) is what makes rejecting what eventually is proven Wrong possible. You go with what you Know as you Understand it until you Know differently. Otherwise you'll never go anywhere.

I'm just saying, some times we hold on too firmly to our beliefs of the universe (especially in academia). It used to be a widely held belief that life spontaneously forms from different types of matter. Even after a couple of damning experiments that proved otherwise, it still took over 200 for the scientific community to accept that spontaneous generation was false.

In many ways, we have the same problems. Science is far from a settled subject (and never will be settled until mankind dies off)

 

[lord_emperor]

The speed of light is too slow and should be raised.

 

[Terzo]

The speed of light is too slow and should be raised.

Yeah, no one in the Milky Way obeys that anyways. Beings are always speeding, but they'll slow down below the speed of light if you look at them. The second you turn away though, they're careening through the universe at ludicrous speed.

 

[bignateyk]

Science damn you. Science damn you to nothing!

 

[Albatross]

The enormous power and wealth brought on by technology has solidified certain prejudices of the modern age .
The Medieval Age was convinced that witches are real,that alchemy was a real deal etc.
The moderns are convinced that the invisible doesn't exit,that God is dead and should remain so and that the self-satisfied and ignorant troglodytes produced industrially by the Modern Age are the apex of humanity.

 

[MotF Bane]

Significant fucking digits.

 

[Crono]

Science isn't a singular entity, and neither is religion.

I'll never take a side that proclaims either one (or both) is "wrong".
There is no way to object to anything so broad.

That's like objecting to history, philosophy, or logic.

 

[rudeguy]

Stating theories as facts.

 

[surfsatwerk]

People too much faith in it, thats why.

Exactly, it's not like science can put us on the moon or anything interesting.

 

[BurnItDwn]

People too much faith in it, thats why.

Faith is the wrong word.

Faith is when you believe something without having a rational/logical reason to believe it. Science is essentially the logical/rational explanation.

 

[pmv]

Stating theories as facts.

What's the qualitative difference between the two then, in your view?

Surely a 'fact' is just a theory with a lot of evidence behind it (or, failing that, with a sufficient number of guys with guns behind it).

In that sense, 'evolution' and 'that WW2 ever happened' are both 'facts' and both 'theories'.

 

[pmv]

There are sub-disciplines that claim to be 'science' that I'm deeply suspicious of. The further you get from physics the more dodgy it gets. E.g. "IQ studies", "evolutionary pscyhology" or "economics". All rather questionable in their claim to be 'science'.

 

[Possessed Freak]

Back off man...

 

[Train]

The only true science is math (sorry math haters)

All other sciences (that aren't solidly grounded in math) are a blind guessing game compared to math.

 

[pmv]

The only true science is math (sorry math haters)

All other sciences (that aren't solidly grounded in math) are a blind guessing game compared to math.

Not sure if I agree with that or not, its getting very philosophical. Is maths not derived from logic? And should a science not involve something more than pure deduction?

But I don't know about your second statement. Its quite possible for something to be filled with masses of maths and still be very bad science because its mathematical edifices are built on dubious foundations (I give you: economics).

 

[NinjaTech]

Scientists eat babies and have really smelly feet.

 

[Train]

Is maths not derived from logic?

Hard to say. Initially I would think logic is derived from math. Or you could say math was discovered through logic. My logic professor would have said that logic IS math. Perhaps its just a chicken and egg problem.

And should a science not involve something more than pure deduction?

No, but it can never be finite without mathematical proofs.

But I don't know about your second statement. Its quite possible for something to be filled with masses of maths and still be very bad science because its mathematical edifices are built on dubious foundations (I give you: economics).

Economics is a good one. I think the shortcomings of economics though should not be blamed on math, but perhaps a lack of math. A big part of economics is psychology, which is a very math-deficient science (think voodoo economics, public perceptions, consumer confidence, etc) The math itself is always perfect, but predicting things like the economy or weather, while aided by mathematical models, will for the forseable future, be far from perfect.

EDIT:

 

[uclaLabrat]

Faith is the wrong word.

Faith is when you believe something without having a rational/logical reason to believe it. Science is essentially the logical/rational explanation.

No, faith is the right word in his context. Too many people use science as the religion. They are told what to believe by someone who is "smarter" than they are, and they follow it blindly, because the explanation seems rational in their mind. They proceed to ignore the model, its assumptions, and its limits, in espousing their beliefs. It becomes religion through ignorance, which is precisely what others in all the religion threads so vehemently denounce.

 

[erikistired]

Exactly, it's not like science can put us on the moon or anything interesting.

apparently it can, but after a few years it forgets how.

 

[Homerboy]

People who ignore anything that cannot be proved or disproved by science.

Just so you know your post was not overlooked, I got it and fully understand and agree.

 

[Cogman]

apparently it can, but after a few years it forgets how.

More like after a few years safety requirements increase 10 fold increasing costs by similar levels.

That, and the fact of "What is there to learn by putting another man on the moon" sort of puts a damper on the enthusiasm of going back.

 

[FeuerFrei]

It's ever fluctuating, always contradicting itself. (i.e. can't be trusted because it's founded on human understanding.)

It's limited to the physical realm.

"Science" posed as science.

 

[sandorski]

It's ever fluctuating, always contradicting itself. (i.e. can't be trusted because it's founded on human understanding.)

It's limited to the physical realm.

"Science" posed as science.

..and something isn't?

 

[zinfamous]

I WAS BLINDED BY SCIENCE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V83JR2IoI8k

yes, yes, that's it! the blinding!

 

[zinfamous]

The only true science is math (sorry math haters)

All other sciences (that aren't solidly grounded in math) are a blind guessing game compared to math.

math is simply the language of science. It is the one universal truth.