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This may be sloppy science, but sometimes discoveries happen in very sloppy and unpredictable ways.
by dynomight 11y ago
This may be sloppy science, but sometimes discoveries happen in very sloppy and unpredictable ways.
- dynomight 11y agoExcuse me. Science only happens in precise and predictable ways.
- troymc 11y agoScientific discovery often happens by accident, i.e. unpredictably. And when you're not expecting to discover something, you're obviously not being precise about it. A concrete example is the accidental discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation. If you Google "accidental discovery" you'll find hundreds of other examples. Or, if you prefer an Asimov quote: "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'"
- amelius 11y agoI think that even the "Eureka!" type of discoveries may be labeled as accidental.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- coldtea 11y agoYeah, just not in the actual history of science. Take the discovery of LSD for one.
- dynomight 11y agoWhat I can conclude for sure is that the upvoting/downvoting system is very imprecise, but engaging at the same time.
- thanatosmin 11y agoDefinitely lots of exciting discoveries happen by accident--possibly most. But understanding what those discoveries actually are requires carefully designed experiments. In the absence of careful controls Occam's razor has to apply.