Science is nothing more than magic that actually works.

[onemoretime]

Analyze the validity of that sentence.

 

[Beargryllz]

As a scientist, I will accept this.

 

[Asterion]

Analyze the validity of that sentence.

'Magic' is usually something that forms from nothing. Science forms from observation and mathematics, simulations and inference. Mathematics is magical, the world around us is magical, so deep down inside, science is also magical.

 

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Analyze the validity of that sentence.

Science doesn't work. Technology works. Get it right.

 

[onemoretime]

Science doesn't work. Technology works. Get it right.

Quit splitting hairs.

 

[The_Liquid_Laser]

Quit splitting hairs.

There is a big difference between science and technology. It's not splitting hairs.

 

[Halla74]

Analyze the validity of that sentence.

I concur.

When I was completing my undergraduate degree (B.S. in MIS) one of my elective classes was a Mythology class. The professor was a young female graduate student, very bright, very well read, and a very nice looking young lady who had a dickhead for a boyfriend.

In one of her lectures she said:

"Mythology is the science of ancient people. They sought to understand the world they lived in with the information they had, their observations, and then guessed at what they did not know. Now we do that with electron microscopes, and satellites, and mass spectrometers, and our guesses are much better than in the past, and our sense of the world very accurate when compared to past understandings. But in two to five thousand years, the people that look back at us in this time will think our science to be as silly as many of the myths of our ancestors are to us now."

Nice topic. WIN.

 

[onemoretime]

There is a big difference between science and technology. It's not splitting hairs.

The only distinction is application, and that's not a distinction that's important in analyzing this statement.

 

[The_Liquid_Laser]

The only distinction is application, and that's not a distinction that's important in analyzing this statement.

It depends on your definition of science. In my mind science has been around for a few hundred years, while technology has been around for thousands. Technology has been working long before science came around.

If on the other hand your definition of science includes things like praying to the gods and then discovering how to make fire, then I can't disagree with you. In that case science really is magic that works.

 

[Coriolis]

Magic is nothing more than science that is not yet understood.

 

[Dying Acedia]

Analyze the validity of that sentence.

What? Why would we invoke magic at all? Science is a tool and a body of knowledge. Sure, magic could be that too, but magic isn't something that is clearcut and logical, so I think this is invalid.

 

[You]

I must be science.

 

[Owl]

Analyze the validity of that sentence.

Not too sure how you are using the word "validity" above.

But...

For those who adopt a pragmatic theory of truth, I imagine that this sentence wouldn't be a too objectionable definition of science, and if, in this thread's title, the word "magic" were replaced by "behavior", then I predict that pragmatists wouldn't balk at its validity.

However, I'm no pragmatist, so I don't think that science is merely behavior that works. "Science," as I understand the term, is the use of our cognitive faculties to understand the relations that hold between objects in the realm of mind independent existence that is accessible through the senses.

Admittedly, I'm no scientist, and much science often seems like magic. In fact, I was just wondering today how ancient civilizations, (and some not so ancient), would treat contemporary scientists and their ideas.

what do you, (omt), think of your sentence?

 

[nozflubber]

oh man, how does that quote from civ4 go......

"any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"

If you look at the most amazing/surprising results from the physical sciences in the past 100 years (I think atomic weaponry and Lasers are the most impressive, myself), you'll see it actually goes far above and beyond most things presented in Harry Potter or even Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. So I would say it's a pretty valid statement.

What's a myth is how quickly one can achieve those effects described with all the labor and machinery involved in development. If science were magic, casting/preparing an atomic bomb spell would take 5 years or longer not very prompt, is it?

 

[Saslou]

What? Why would we invoke magic at all? Science is a tool and a body of knowledge. Sure, magic could be that too, but magic isn't something that is clearcut and logical, so I think this is invalid.

The wording within science can not be used in the context of magic.

This is why it is currently invalid .. Change the language then see the magic

 

[Randomnity]

You would have to define science, magic and "works" (not to mention "validity") concretely in order to examine the validity.

It does sound like you mean technology more than science, though.

But sure, to civilizations with far less developed technology, modern technology would certainly seem like magic, if that's all you mean.

 

[rav3n]

That phrase rubs me the wrong way. Preferred statement:

Magic is a combination of unexplained science and fantasy.

 

[Lark]

Someones been reading Richard Matheson's Button, Button or seen any of the adaptations (either twilight zone or film) or read the original quote, which I think is from Asimov but I'm not sure.

 

[Randomnity]

I believe Arthur C. Clarke was the original quote: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". His other two laws from the same source are good too: "When a distinguished but elderly scientist states that something is possible, he is almost certainly right. When he states that something is impossible, he is very probably wrong." and "The only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible."

 

[You]

That phrase rubs me the wrong way. Preferred statement:

Magic is a combination of unexplained science and fantasy.

Rub some more.