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> Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. A problem: this is a razor that is useful for approximating what one believes to be true, it is not prop
by mistermann 4y ago
> Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.
A problem: this is a razor that is useful for approximating what one believes to be true, it is not proper, strict epistemology.
Also: it only yields belief, not truth, because it doesn't even try for truth - rather, it advises against doing that.
Would be interesting to see what Carl would say in this context, as I presume he meant it in the context of science/physics, not metaphysics.
I have arguments now and then with people on Carl Sagan videos on tiktok, and it is eye opening how many science fans are utterly incompetent when it comes to epistemology and logic. With just a tiny bit of abstraction (removing the object level specifics of the claim), they are indistinguishable from religious fundamentalists in their confident incorrectness / epistemic-unsoundness.
- nradov 4y agoI've seen the phrase "trust the science" a lot lately, which indicates the someone fundamentally misunderstands what science actually is.
- mistermann 4y agoAn extremely interesting and complex discussion could be had about the merits of that advice. In a perfect world, it would be fine, since science is highly trustworthy. Unfortunately, the world we live in is far from perfect, making it far less easy to determine how optimal the approach is. And ironically, you would think that science minded people would understand and appreciate these complexities and their legitimate importance, however in my experience they tend to be the ones most averse to them.