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It's unfortunate that the epistemology of science is such that we can't just take certain things for granted like this, but I understand why it is the way it is
by trophycase 8y ago
It's unfortunate that the epistemology of science is such that we can't just take certain things for granted like this, but I understand why it is the way it is. I find psychology research to be particularly guilty of this, so much that in my head I often refer to it as the science of pointing out the obvious.
- codetrotter 8y agoThe thing is that while a lot of things that seem obvious will be confirmed, a lot of seemingly obvious things will turn out to not be true. So we need to apply scientific methods in order to determine which “truths” really are true and which are not. (In cases where the truth is testable — not everything is.) Beyond that, the fact that they have identified what receptors the mosquitoes use for sensing sweat means, like the article says, that new ways to foil the mosquitoes from sensing humans might be possible to devise in the future.
- hrktb 8y agoFor psychology, sadly it’s more that researchers are lurred towards seemingly obvious or seducing results. The reproductibility project was really a god send in this respect: https://osf.io/ezcuj/ https://osf.io/ezcuj/