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Questioning Science

entropie

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I wonder what an 'Erbsenzähler' would be in english. Do you have an idea by chance [MENTION=10757]Nicodemus[/MENTION] ?
 

kyuuei

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I wonder what an 'Erbsenzähler' would be in english. Do you have an idea by chance [MENTION=10757]Nicodemus[/MENTION] ?

[MENTION=4466]Little Linguist[/MENTION] feel free to respond with a translation as well. My curiosity has been poked with this word.

As far as I can tell.. I feel science works the same way a math class does. You don't learn about unreal numbers right away. First, there are numbers. Then, there are bigger numbers. Then, you can combine numbers. Then you can divide them. Then you learn that there are equations that don't work out into perfect parts, and there are fractions of numbers. etc... It keeps snowballing into absolutes until you have a firm understanding of them, and you open a door into what is not so absolute.

Teaching science to be absolute is fine for people who will never use it--as long as you only use absolute scenarios. There is no point in teaching kids about things like what the weather may be like 50 years from now, when there's plenty of applicable information on the human body for instance. I think where educators get to teach students to question absolutes is in philosophy classes and psychology classes, where everything is subjective and nothing is ground in stone. Bringing up sciences in a class like that would be a better approach to it, imo.

As far as a good ole boy system... If it can happen in places like the government, the military, corporations, the work force, and even social circles.. I see no reason why science would be exempt to it.. and I argue that Doctors have this system the worst of all. How many doctors do you see promising this weight loss pill or that skin fix...
 

Coriolis

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I wonder what an 'Erbsenzähler' would be in english. Do you have an idea by chance [MENTION=10757]Nicodemus[/MENTION] ?
Literally "pea counter". Nicodemus' reference lists both "beancounter" and "nitpicker", which are related but not the same. Beancounter is a derogatory term for an accountant, bookkeeper, or other financial record keeper who cannot see beyond the numbers in the ledger to the purpose of the enterprise. A nitpicker is someone who is very critical, but focuses on trivia and minutiae while missing the real substance of the issue, e.g. someone who sees the spelling and formatting errors in a document, while saying nothing about the content.
 

entropie

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Ya thats what I mean. I talk about XYZ and then an intp comes in and corrects my semantics. Its frustrating :)

There is such a guy at my work and I have installed an automated forwarding for the mails he sends me to his own email adress. He still hasnt figured out what the problem is, but lately he came to me and told me that he cant send me mails no more. And I said: "Oh really ? What a shame !" :)
 

Razwell

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Holy crap ! Please do not spread that nonsense. It makes me puke in my mouth a bit.

There ISN'T ANYTHING that makes a law any "more true" , "above" or "better than" a theory. In science, laws can be changed JUST AS EASILY as theories. There is no hierarchy whatsoever.

Hypotheses, theories and laws are as different as apples, bananas and raspberries. They serve different roles. And once can NEVER turn into another. They differ in breadth, not level of support.

MYTH: Science models 'are real.'

Correction :This is a MYTH and a MISCONCEPTION! Models are ONLY PERCEIVED representatuions of reality. A good example is the particle theory of matter, which pictures atoms and molecules as tiny discrete balls that have elastic collisions. This is a model that explains a whole range of phenomena, BUT NO ONE has actually SEEN these tiny balls.

Science is BOTH a human invention and endeavor. It is VERY fallible. It is every bit as imperfect as we are. All of our science is childish compared to reality. Einstein himself said this.
 

ygolo

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Holy crap ! Please do not spread that nonsense. It makes me puke in my mouth a bit.

There ISN'T ANYTHING that makes a law any "more true" , "above" or "better than" a theory. In science, laws can be changed JUST AS EASILY as theories. There is no hierarchy whatsoever.

Hypotheses, theories and laws are as different as apples, bananas and raspberries. They serve different roles. And once can NEVER turn into another. They differ in breadth, not level of support.

MYTH: Science models 'are real.'

Correction :This is a MYTH and a MISCONCEPTION! Models are ONLY PERCEIVED representatuions of reality. A good example is the particle theory of matter, which pictures atoms and molecules as tiny discrete balls that have elastic collisions. This is a model that explains a whole range of phenomena, BUT NO ONE has actually SEEN these tiny balls.

Science is BOTH a human invention and endeavor. It is VERY fallible. It is every bit as imperfect as we are. All of our science is childish compared to reality. Einstein himself said this.

I am not sure what part of this two year old thread lead to its resurrection, nor do I know who you are addressing.

However, we've used electron microscopes to see individual atoms for decades now. In fact, we can even image the orbitals of a hydrogen atom. http://www.geek.com/science/researc...toms-electron-orbital-for-first-time-1556448/

So not only can we see atoms and molecules now, but we can get quite detailed pictures of them.
 

FDG

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Have they really managed to go beyond the speed of light at CERN? I still don't believe it's possible in any meaningful way.
 

RaptorWizard

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Ideally, science should be a means for getting a more solid perspective on things, and having more pieces to integrate into theoretical models. But then again, we don't have all of the information given to us empirically, nor do we even know if what we're seeing is accurate. The truth may very well involve abstract and metaphysical parts that take more imagination to perceive.
 

ygolo

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WHICH LED TO A MISCALCULATION

Semantics. I just wanted to distinguish it from the reason I linked in the thread, which was unambiguously a calculation error.

Like [MENTION=9811]Coriolis[/MENTION] said. This is an example of science at work. Science is naturally skeptical of its own results.

We can debate "reality" and "truth" forever. The reality of science is the same as the practical reality we observe with our senses, aided greatly by equipment of our design. The reasoning is the same as our everyday reasoning about the physical reality, aided greatly by years of training.
 
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