As Robert Boyle, one of the founding fathers of modern science, recognized, experimental error is part of the slow advance toward any scientific truth; you can't have trial without error.
Tell that to those scientists who insist that "the science is settled."
Well, but, again, the problem isn't with science, or the scientific method. THe problem is with certain loud-mouthed (logical positivist rationalist) practitioners of science who respond to fundamentalism with a mirror species of their own fundamentalism. Science itself goes on quietly seeking data via trial and error that tries to explain and understand the universe we live in.
ReplyDelete"[C]ertain loud-mouthed (logical positivist rationalist) practitioners of science who respond to fundamentalism with a mirror species of their own fundamentalism."
ReplyDeletePerfectly phrased, Art!