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We might like to think that by virtue of of being technically minded, logical, and by following the scientific method that somehow biases can be eliminated. And

by scoot 6y ago

We might like to think that by virtue of of being technically minded, logical, and by following the scientific method that somehow biases can be eliminated. And yet, there are those here willing for example, to espouse a spiritual belief that has no basis in fact or science. That alone should put paid to any hope that any of us can truly shake biases and beliefs and operate solely on the basis of fact. Further, very few information sources are truly factual, and without bias?

xpe 6y ago
> Further, very few information sources are truly factual, and without bias? This statement presents a false dichotomy. I could also say that no measurement of the temperature in Phoenix, AZ is "truly" accurate. However, they are accurate enough for our purposes. To take it a step further, we can combine sources. We can use reasoning about the sources in how we combine them. These sort of study and technique is meta-analysis.
toyg 6y ago
It’s not as unreasonable as you make it sound. Some of the most devout Christians I know are scientists, and extremely logical people too. Precisely because they know how the sausage of Official Science is made, and are naturally inquisitive people, they are not shy to question our supposedly-scientific understanding of the universe (i.e. our best guesses at how it all started) and eventually resolve that doubt with (what they think is) an equally-unprovable act of faith. (Note: this is not about creationism, we’re talking Big Bang etc). I don’t disagree that human communication is often an oxymoron, simply because of how bodies work. Until we get perfect brain-to-brain data transfer, we’ll always have to go through this messy mismatch between my perceptions and your perceptions.
- 8note 6y ago
  Careful scientists tend to say "this is the first time where we know what's happening before this we're unclear" And "this is where our model breaks down, maybe {big bang singularity, big bounce, etc} happened before it" The big Bang (fast inflationary persiod in the early universe) is not one of those things? To my knowledge its well measured?
8note 6y ago
The nazis did a lot of technological development, and the brits were doing a colonialism while the industrial revolution was ongoing. The engineering mindset tends not to care about the provenance of a model, only whether it's useful for a goal. We don't care about the why,unless the why is required for something we're trying to do

by scoot 6y ago

xpe 6y ago

> Further, very few information sources are truly factual, and without bias? This statement presents a false dichotomy. I could also say that no measurement of the temperature in Phoenix, AZ is "truly" accurate. However, they are accurate enough for our purposes. To take it a step further, we can combine sources. We can use reasoning about the sources in how we combine them. These sort of study and technique is meta-analysis.

toyg 6y ago

It’s not as unreasonable as you make it sound. Some of the most devout Christians I know are scientists, and extremely logical people too. Precisely because they know how the sausage of Official Science is made, and are naturally inquisitive people, they are not shy to question our supposedly-scientific understanding of the universe (i.e. our best guesses at how it all started) and eventually resolve that doubt with (what they think is) an equally-unprovable act of faith. (Note: this is not about creationism, we’re talking Big Bang etc). I don’t disagree that human communication is often an oxymoron, simply because of how bodies work. Until we get perfect brain-to-brain data transfer, we’ll always have to go through this messy mismatch between my perceptions and your perceptions.

8note 6y ago
Careful scientists tend to say "this is the first time where we know what's happening before this we're unclear" And "this is where our model breaks down, maybe {big bang singularity, big bounce, etc} happened before it" The big Bang (fast inflationary persiod in the early universe) is not one of those things? To my knowledge its well measured?

8note 6y ago

The nazis did a lot of technological development, and the brits were doing a colonialism while the industrial revolution was ongoing. The engineering mindset tends not to care about the provenance of a model, only whether it's useful for a goal. We don't care about the why,unless the why is required for something we're trying to do