He knows more than you do. He has a masters degree -- in PHILOSOPHY! — Bitter Crank
I am of the moderately educated opinion that it is time to discard the term "science" — darthbarracuda
I am of the moderately educated opinion that it is time to discard the term "science". It does not refer to anything but a loose federation of people of various fields, investigating different things that sometimes overlap in subject matter, methodology or equipment. There is no essential feature that makes a field "scientific", and there is no such thing as the "scientific method". The structure of the educational institution is perhaps the greatest overall similarity between the sciences. — darthbarracuda
This discussion just got interesting all of a sudden.Science is essentially an umbrella marketing term for fundraising and shielding against criticism. There are no standards, there are no methods. — Rich
Science is essentially an umbrella marketing term for fundraising and shielding against criticism — Rich
Since there is no acceptable definition of what makes something scientific, calling something "pseudoscientific" is meaningless. — darthbarracuda
Science is a method and the body of knowledge established by that method. As far as I can see there is no opposition to science as such, the disputes are mostly over what qualifies as science. Everybody wants science on their side, unfortunately not too many of us are actually on the side of science. Science is mostly abused in our society, some claim the science is settled when it isn't and others bastardize the method to produce convenient junk science or pseudo science. It's all a big farce really and it shows that science can't save a species that is fervently devoted to bullshit.in these times, the word "science" is a fighting word — Srap Tasmaner
As far as I can see there is no opposition to science as such, — Sivad
I've followed most of the major conflicts fairly closely and it's clear to me that there's dishonesty and delusion on both sides of these issues. Climate change is probably the best example, one side is claiming far more certainty than is warranted and being alarmist while the other side idiotically denies that there very well may be a serious problem developing. Both sides are mightily steeped in bullshit and neither side is coming off it any time soon.If you think that, you must not live in the United States. — Srap Tasmaner
I can detect at least four different issues raised in this thread:
[1] whether the word "science" is so hopelessly vague that it is devoid of communicative value;
[2] whether the disunity within science is so complete that any association between scientific disciplines is misleading or false;
[3] whether the deployment of scientific language for rhetorical purposes is ethical; and
[4] whether or not there is anything remedial we can do about issues 1-3.
Are there additional issues I have missed, or would anyone frame the issues differently? — geospiza
I've followed most of the major conflicts fairly closely and it's clear to me that there's dishonesty and delusion on both sides of these issues. Climate change is probably the best example, one side is claiming far more certainty than is warranted and being alarmist while the other side idiotically denies that there very well may be a serious problem developing. Both sides are mightily steeped in bullshit and neither side is coming off it any time soon. — Sivad
That sort of expediency comes at a price and it's effectiveness is questionable to begin with. Also in context of the bigger picture it's just bad strategy, it's a bad idea to polarize society with deceitful — Sivad
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