Ponderings of science, philosophy, history, society, and many other topics
A question long argued in the philosophy of science is the demarcation problem. How to we distinguish science from non-science? Karl Popper famously proposed falsifiability as a criteria. To be science, a theory must make predictions that could turn out to be wrong. It must be falsifiable. Theories that are amorphous or flexible enough to … Continue reading The spectrum of science to fantasy
In this video, Massimo Pigliucci, the philosopher and biologist who runs the Scientia Salon site, discusses the demarcation problem, the dividing line between what is and is not science. The distinction is easy for things like astrology and astronomy, but gets more difficult for many other areas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBUKQWM5Jf0 I'd forgotten about Massimo's latest book on pseudoscience. … Continue reading Massimo Pigliucci on the boundary between science and pseudoscience
Ars Technica has an article about the most accurate measurement yet of the mass of the electron. It was an interesting article, particularly in describing how the scientists went about making the measurement. But I was struck by something said at the end: Physicist know that the Standard Model—great for explaining the world of the … Continue reading Searching for empirical anomalies
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
Harold Camping died last month. In case you don't remember, Camping, the president of evangelical Family Radio, predicted that the world would end in 2011. Twice. He made these prognostications on the basis of numerology, which sounds like it might be a sophomore-level math subject, but isn't. The data for the calculations Camping used to … Continue reading The End of the World: Science or Religion? | Seth Shostak
Related to my last two posts, and our discussion, Sean Carroll turned in an answer to the "What Scientific Ideas Are Ready for Retirement?" His answer? Falsifiability. Modern physics stretches into realms far removed from everyday experience, and sometimes the connection to experiment becomes tenuous at best. String theory and other approaches to quantum gravity … Continue reading Time to ditch falsifiability?
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