How Science is Different from Any Other Human Enterprise

Science is different from many another human enterprise - not, of course, in its practitioners' being influenced by the culture they grew up in, nor in sometimes being right and sometimes wrong (which are common to every human activity), but in its passion for framing testable hypotheses, in its search for definitive experiments that confirm or deny ideas, in the vigour of its substantive debate, and in its willingness to abandon ideas that have been found wanting. If we were not aware of our own limitations, though, if we were not seeking further data, if we were unwilling to perform controlled experiments, if we did not respect the evidence, we would have very little leverage in our quest for the truth. Through opportunism and timidity we might then be buffeted by every ideological breeze, with nothing of lasting value to hang on to.

Notes:

For its need to form testable hypotheses.

Folksonomies: science scientific method

Taxonomies:
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/law, govt and politics/government (0.196699)
/health and fitness (0.173870)

Keywords:
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The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Books, Brochures, and Chapters>Book: Sagan , Carl and Druyan , Ann (1997-02-25), The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark, Ballantine Books, Retrieved on 2011-05-04

Folksonomies: science empiricism rationalism

Schemas

01 JAN 2010

Scientific Virtues

Memes that define the virtues of science and behaviors that we should emulate.

Folksonomies: enlightenment science virtue