What Is Science
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uk canada goose Still, the continuous attempts by various pseudosciences to gain respectability as scientific theories constitute, in my humble opinion, a clear and present danger. To understand the difference between genuine science and pseudoscience, let’s examine the ingredients of the scientific canada goose outlet in chicago method. Ever since the works of such giants in the philosophy of science as Bacon, Descartes, Spinoza, Locke, and Hume, we know that one has to start with a collection of data through experiments or observations (Figs. 1 and 2 show two of the most advanced facilities for collecting such data). In the next step, the scientist formulates a canada goose outlet ottawa hypothesis that attempts to explain the phenomena that have canada goose outlet online been observed. Successful hypotheses are those that not only stand up to further testing but make specific predictions that can be tested by new experiments or observations. Of those hypotheses, the ones that concern a multitude of phenomena canada goose outlet washington dc can mature to become comprehensive theories, and those that are canada goose vest outlet found to universally hold true, independent of place or time, gain the most distinguished status of laws of nature. uk canada goose
buy canada goose jacket cheap Figure 2. Part of the mirror of the upcoming James Webb Space Telescope, which will observe the very first galaxies in the Universe (photo credit: Emmett Given, NASA Marshall). buy canada goose jacket cheap
Canada Goose Jackets Over canada goose outlet uk the years, even this carefully constructed paradigm has been subjected to serious philosophical criticism, especially concerning the problem of induction. Induction is the process that leads us from a finite number of observations to such universal conclusions as “all bodies on Earth fall with constant acceleration.” Clearly, from a strictly logical perspective, such arguments cannot be rigorously valid we have not observed all the bodies on Earth (my high school teacher used to say, “And if you see a body that does not obey this law, please let me know immediately!”). Philosophers of science have attempted to address the logical problem of induction in two main ways. First, Austrian born Karl Popper argued that as long as hypotheses are falsifiable, in the sense that experiments or observations exist that would disprove them, science can maintain its objectivity. Popper suggested that a theory should never be considered confirmed, no matter how much evidence has been collected to support it. Rather, we should accept theories until they have been falsified. Note that the key criterion here, distinguishing science from pseudoscience, is falsifiability. Unless a theory is able to make definite predictions that can be checked and shown to be wrong, it cannot be considered scientific. In case you wonder, the theory does not necessarily need to be mathematical in order for it to make clear predictions. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, for instance, predicts a very particular sequence in the geological record. The finding of even one fossil of a modern rabbit in a rock that is 3 billion years old would destroy the entire theory. Canada Goose Jackets
Canada Goose Outlet A second partial response to the problem of induction is offered by what is known as the Bayesian confirmation theory that our trust in theories comes in degrees that can be quantified by the theory of probability. In other words, we should attach high credence only to universal theories that are repeatedly tested and borne out by observations. Bayesian confirmation theory attempted to create what one might call “positive” scientific knowledge, to complement Popper’s account for “negative” ones. However, philosophers of science are, by their very nature, a cheap canada goose skeptical crowd. Thomas Kuhn and Paul Feyerabend, for instance, argued that our prior theoretical ideas influence which observations we make and what interpretation we attach to them. Others countered that even if it is true that a number of different theories may be compatible with a given body of data, this does not mean that we cannot logically choose among such theories, since typically some would be better supported by the data than others. In conclusion, while it is certainly true that history teaches us that many past scientific theories eventually turned out to be false, even those false but genuinely scientific theories contained a significant element of truth. The bottom line is clear: Science investigates strategies for achieving predictive success, heuristic fruitfulness, and simplicity Canada Goose Outlet.