I have to agree with you on this one, Chris. I have been saying the same thing about modern science for a while - they seem to think they know the answers, so when the facts do not fit... we get things like Dark Matter and Dark Energy. I think if we revisited what we know, ie the facts, and tried to come up with a fresh set of theories that better fit the facts, we would have something great. I guess that is what happens when we get the next Einstein - he took facts that no one could explain well and came up with a new, innovative theory that better fit these facts.
I guess what I am saying is that Science really is a lot more like a religion. Most of the people who believe in it follow the dogma quite strictly. But every so often, one person comes along and creates a better theory. It isn't really an iterative process of getting closer to the truth. Listening to the 30 hours of The Joy of Science cd set really brought that home for me.
Re: Indeed!chriscoxadobeSeptember 13 2007, 07:54:03 UTC
I think most scientists are doing the right thing: keeping an open mind and investigating even the most improbable ideas. The majority of science really is iterative: small changes in understanding leads to more discoveries and more understanding. But you have to start with a decent framework to iterate on. If your base understanding of the concepts is bad, then small changes won't help. Einstein worked on an area where our basic understanding was, um, far from complete.
I tend to think of science as an annealing process: lots of big changes at the start, followed by smaller and smaller changes as you progress. But if you try to solidify things too quickly, and aren't prepared for some large changes: the structure is gonna crack.
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I guess what I am saying is that Science really is a lot more like a religion. Most of the people who believe in it follow the dogma quite strictly. But every so often, one person comes along and creates a better theory. It isn't really an iterative process of getting closer to the truth. Listening to the 30 hours of The Joy of Science cd set really brought that home for me.
-Edward
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I tend to think of science as an annealing process: lots of big changes at the start, followed by smaller and smaller changes as you progress. But if you try to solidify things too quickly, and aren't prepared for some large changes: the structure is gonna crack.
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