There are many concepts in science where different sets of evidence seem to lead to contradictory conclusions, or where the evidence leaves crucial holes in the narrative. In my experience, many lay people notice these contradictions or holes, but often assume that they simply don't understand the concept, that it's just them. Or, worse, they … Continue reading No, it’s not just you, there are things science just doesn’t know (yet)
Category: Science
Will the age of science end?
A while back, I became interested in the history of science, particularly the early history, including people like Copernicus, Galileo, Newton, Johanne Kepler, Andreas Vesalius, and many others. In reading about them, one of the things I was struck by was how small scale science was back then. In its beginnings, modern science was mostly … Continue reading Will the age of science end?
Falsifiability is useful, but a matter of judgment
Our discussions last week on Jim Baggott's book, 'Farewell to Reality', and Sean Carroll's Edge response, left me pondering falsifiability, the idea that theories should be falsifiable in order to be considered science. Falsifiability is a criteria identified by the philosopher Karl Popper. Popper was arguing against a conception held at the time by logical … Continue reading Falsifiability is useful, but a matter of judgment
Farewell to Reality
Jim Baggott has written an important book, 'Farewell to Reality: How Modern Physics Has Betrayed the Search for Scientific Truth', which takes a hard look at many modern ideas in theoretical physics, and finds that many of them are not science. Philosophy of science Baggott begins with a chapter on basic philosophy of science, identifying … Continue reading Farewell to Reality
Singularity assumptions that should be questioned
The upcoming movie, Transcendence, looks like it will be interesting, but the trailer includes common assumptions about the singularity that I'm not sure are justified. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY-cc1MLAI4 To be sure, the assumptions are held by a lot of singularity believers. Below I offer some reasons why these assumptions shouldn't be taken as self evident. Assumption 1: … Continue reading Singularity assumptions that should be questioned
Perspectives on deep time
The universe is roughly 13.8 billions years old. The universe was 66% of its current age by the time the Sun and Earth formed. Life appears to have begun on Earth when it was around 10% of its current age of around 4.5 billion years. The Earth was 85% of its current age before the … Continue reading Perspectives on deep time
Science, philosophy, and caution about what we think we know
What is the difference between science and philosophy? While there are enterprises that are clearly in one or the other, the dividing line isn't always a sharp one. Science grew out of philosophy, particularly natural philosophy. Some would say that science is itself a type of philosophy. But what is the difference between what we … Continue reading Science, philosophy, and caution about what we think we know
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