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That's not the definition. There are many tools and processes that do not constitute science. If you want to define science as that which uncovers truth, then,

That's not the definition. There are many tools and processes that do not constitute science. If you want to define science as that which uncovers truth, then, for that to be true, you must be able to define truth without resorting to tautology (that is, there must be a way to verify 'truth'). Excluding a subset of what's false doesn't necessarily lead you to discovering or being able to accept (integrate) the truth.

fizx 8y ago
Science is the belief that the laws of nature are consistent, and therefore repeatable and testable. From there the practice of science is repeating and testing claims about nature, and communicating these tests through various social processes such as peer reviewed journals or running through the streets naked shouting "Eureka!"
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  > Science is the belief that the laws of nature are consistent, and therefore repeatable and testable. No, science is the practice of using the assumption of consistent laws of nature to build predictive models. In a way, it is more an elaborate extended test of the utility of the assumption than a belief in it (though obviously belief may support the practice and observed utility of the resulting models may create or reinforce belief.) But belief in the assumption is neither necessary to nor sufficient for science.
mfoy_ 8y ago
Red is a colour, but not all colours are red. That doesn't mean that red isn't a colour because there are colours that are not red.
njarboe 8y ago
Truth is what lets you predict the future state of the world. The better the predictions, the closer you are to "the truth". Physicists are very careful to understand the uncertainties in what they know and only say its "true" and publish the results when those uncertainties 5 or 6 or 7 sigma. Their predictions work almost always but are limited to a very small slice of reality. Other sciences move farther from this ideal and are less likely to be stating "the truth".
vinceguidry 8y ago
> That's not the definition. There are many tools and processes that do not constitute science. They didn't say that. They said science was a collection of tools and processes. Obviously tools and processes exist that aren't a part of that collection.

fizx 8y ago

Science is the belief that the laws of nature are consistent, and therefore repeatable and testable. From there the practice of science is repeating and testing claims about nature, and communicating these tests through various social processes such as peer reviewed journals or running through the streets naked shouting "Eureka!"

dragonwriter 8y ago
> Science is the belief that the laws of nature are consistent, and therefore repeatable and testable. No, science is the practice of using the assumption of consistent laws of nature to build predictive models. In a way, it is more an elaborate extended test of the utility of the assumption than a belief in it (though obviously belief may support the practice and observed utility of the resulting models may create or reinforce belief.) But belief in the assumption is neither necessary to nor sufficient for science.

mfoy_ 8y ago

Red is a colour, but not all colours are red. That doesn't mean that red isn't a colour because there are colours that are not red.

njarboe 8y ago

Truth is what lets you predict the future state of the world. The better the predictions, the closer you are to "the truth". Physicists are very careful to understand the uncertainties in what they know and only say its "true" and publish the results when those uncertainties 5 or 6 or 7 sigma. Their predictions work almost always but are limited to a very small slice of reality. Other sciences move farther from this ideal and are less likely to be stating "the truth".

vinceguidry 8y ago

> That's not the definition. There are many tools and processes that do not constitute science. They didn't say that. They said science was a collection of tools and processes. Obviously tools and processes exist that aren't a part of that collection.