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posted by martyb on Friday September 16 2016, @09:46AM   Printer-friendly
from the go-figure! dept.

Claims that the "the science isn't settled" with regard to climate change are symptomatic of a large body of ignorance about how science works.

So what is the scientific method, and why do so many people, sometimes including those trained in science, get it so wrong?

The first thing to understand is that there is no one method in science, no one way of doing things. This is intimately connected with how we reason in general.

[...] Those who demand the science be "settled" before we take action are seeking deductive certainty where we are working inductively. And there are other sources of confusion.

One is that simple statements about cause and effect are rare since nature is complex. For example, a theory might predict that X will cause Y, but that Y will be mitigated by the presence of Z and not occur at all if Q is above a critical level. To reduce this to the simple statement "X causes Y" is naive.

Another is that even though some broad ideas may be settled, the details remain a source of lively debate. For example, that evolution has occurred is certainly settled by any rational account. But some details of how natural selection operates are still being fleshed out.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 16 2016, @08:00PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 16 2016, @08:00PM (#402919)

    some believe that the "scientific methode" starts with bias and influencing from the get go.
    also it is believed that anyone can "learn" the scientific methode.

    on the other hand, some people believe that understanding comes from no regerous methode but
    rather from insight (*poof* here today, gone tomorrow)

    some people are born stronger or faster or taller or less fat or with sharp eyes or ears and some people might just
    get more "insights" then other ... no methode required.

    it doesnt mean that the "scientific methode" is useless...

    however this theory cannot be popular in a society that staunchly belives it is (99$-%) equal ...