Post by Tamrin on Jul 5, 2008 19:03:40 GMT 10
If all our common-sense notions about the universe were correct,
then science would have solved the secrets of the universe thousands of years ago.
The purpose of science is to peel back the layer of the
appearance of the objects to reveal their underlying nature.
In fact, if appearance and essence were the same thing, there would be no need for science.
Michio Kaku, in Hyperspace
then science would have solved the secrets of the universe thousands of years ago.
The purpose of science is to peel back the layer of the
appearance of the objects to reveal their underlying nature.
In fact, if appearance and essence were the same thing, there would be no need for science.
Michio Kaku, in Hyperspace
I find it bizarre that many who criticise science are nevertheless anxious to present their pet theories as somehow being "scientific" (in such cases we are invariably reminded of the emperor's new clothes). However, with "science," there is the good, the bad and the ugly.
'SCIENTIFIC' CHAUVINISM
Not only is the universe stranger than you imagine,
It's stranger than you can imagine.
Arthur C. Clarke
It's stranger than you can imagine.
Arthur C. Clarke
xXx
What scientific knowledge is, in fact, is the best available approximation of truth in the judgement of the majority of scientists who work in the particular speciality involved. Truth is not something that we possess; it is a goal towards which we, hopefully, strive.M.Scott Peck, 1988, People of the Lie: The Hope for Healing Human Evil, Rider, London, p. 257
xXx
Nothing exists, but atoms and empty space. All else is conjecture.
Democritus (born circa 460 BCE)
Democritus (born circa 460 BCE)
xXx
And even if by chance he were to utter
The final truth, he would himself not know it;
For all is but a woven web of guesses.
The final truth, he would himself not know it;
For all is but a woven web of guesses.
Xenophanes (b. circa 430 BCE), quoted, K.R. Popper, 1972, Conjectures and Refutations, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, p. 26
xXx
Science has served as our paradigm of knowledge, so that we have fastened upon any general account of science as an epistemology, an account of how knowledge as a whole should be acquired and evaluated.Barry Barnes, "Models & Revolutions", in P. Temple (Editor), March 1985, Australian Society, Vol.4, No.3, Australian Society Publishing Company, Fitzroy, p.16
xXx
Emma Darwin to her husband Charles:
May not the habit in scientific pursuits of believing nothing till it is proved, influence your mind too much in other things which cannot be proved in the same way, and which if true, are likely to be above our comprehension?Christopher Ralling (Editor), 1982, The Voyage of Charles Darwin: His Autobiographical Writings, Ariel Books, London, p.14
xXx
Professor John Passmore has pointed out that, "the fact we have to live with is that if most British philosophers are convinced that Continental metaphysics is arbitrary, pretentious and mind destroying, Continental philosophers are no less confident that British empiricism is philistine, pedestrian and soul destroying!"Malcolm Long, 1973, "Marx - The Man and his Work" in Marx & Beyond: A Series of Six Lectures, by leading Australian Scholars, Examining Marxist Theory and Practice, Broadcast on ABC Radio, Australian Broadcasting Commission, Sydney, p. 48
xXx
On the empirical method among psychologists:
Many behaviourists in psychology have, in practice, seemed to make philosophical claims about what exists, rather than merely to impose methodological restrictions on what they will allow themselves to count as evidence.Anthony Quinton, "Behaviourism" in Alan Bullock & Oliver Stallybrass (Editors), 1977, The Fontana Dictionary of Modern Thought, Fontana (Collins), London, p. 57
xXx
....`psyche' and `matter' are actually the same phenomenon,
one observed from `within' and the other from `without'.
one observed from `within' and the other from `without'.
M. Von Franz, in C.G. Jung, 1978, Man & His Symbols, Picador, London, p.226
xXx
I saw mathematics simply as a tool, a language, but one of various methods for obtaining a description of reality in order to better understand it. Reality was there, somewhere, in the form of an intricate landscape to be explored and understood. But I came across those who thought the exactness of the mathematical approach was actually embedded in nature. They believed that only by reducing nature to its bare elements and uncovering the inherent mathematics could one gain true insight into the territory they chose to explore. These were brilliant scholars, but we stood at opposite intellectual poles.Edgar Mitchell & Dwight Williams, 1996, The Way of the Explorer: An Apollo Astronaut's Journey Through the Material and Mystical Worlds, G.P.Putnam's Sons, New York, p. 19