3 ms·

null result is still a result. thats cute. but looking at the budget of LHC i would hope for a bit more actual result. instead of using backward logic to promot

null result is still a result. thats cute. but looking at the budget of LHC i would hope for a bit more actual result. instead of using backward logic to promote failure as success. ah, i have this wonderful theory.... i didn't prove it yet. but that doesn't disprove it... >.> what happened to solving real-world problems, with practical solutions, and doing science along the way? we used to discover many interesting things about nature and the universe in just that way, and at the same time this attitude changed, the 'null result is also a result' cult started to eat our brains and pollute our thought.

amelius 8y ago
> what happened to solving real-world problems, with practical solutions, and doing science along the way? Imho, the most beautiful results originated from letting people just sit in a room and think, rather than putting pressure on them to generate something useful (e.g. publication pressure, shareholder pressure).
super_serious 8y ago
Promote failure? Do you even know what the scientific method is? They found the higgs boson! They proved some of the most difficult particles predicted by the standard model. How is that a failure????
empath75 8y ago
To demonstrate the importance of null results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80%93Morley_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80%93Morley_exper... > i didn't prove it yet. but that doesn't disprove it A null result actually disproves a theory.
- amelius 8y ago
  That's not a null result, but a negative result. A null result is a result that tells you nothing new (by definition). At least, according to the parlance in this thread.
olliej 8y ago
Particle accelerator research has resulted in theories and equipment as a byproduct of what they found - either proving or disproving specific theories, or by producing new or unexpected results. The last of which results in new theories to explain those results. Those new theories producing “useful results”. MRIs and PET scans were the result of theories that only came about as a result of data that came out of particle accelerators. The goal of the accelerators was never specifically “develop new medical imaging devices”, it was simply the “basic research” that makes thing like that possible in the future.

amelius 8y ago

> what happened to solving real-world problems, with practical solutions, and doing science along the way? Imho, the most beautiful results originated from letting people just sit in a room and think, rather than putting pressure on them to generate something useful (e.g. publication pressure, shareholder pressure).

super_serious 8y ago

Promote failure? Do you even know what the scientific method is? They found the higgs boson! They proved some of the most difficult particles predicted by the standard model. How is that a failure????

empath75 8y ago

To demonstrate the importance of null results: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80%93Morley_experiment https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson%E2%80%93Morley_exper... > i didn't prove it yet. but that doesn't disprove it A null result actually disproves a theory.

amelius 8y ago
That's not a null result, but a negative result. A null result is a result that tells you nothing new (by definition). At least, according to the parlance in this thread.

olliej 8y ago

Particle accelerator research has resulted in theories and equipment as a byproduct of what they found - either proving or disproving specific theories, or by producing new or unexpected results. The last of which results in new theories to explain those results. Those new theories producing “useful results”. MRIs and PET scans were the result of theories that only came about as a result of data that came out of particle accelerators. The goal of the accelerators was never specifically “develop new medical imaging devices”, it was simply the “basic research” that makes thing like that possible in the future.