3 ms·
There are different scientific methods and different senses that need to be used for abstract topics like Alchemy. Just because most of the worlds population l
by trinsic2 4y ago
There are different scientific methods and different senses that need to be used for abstract topics like Alchemy. Just because most of the worlds population lost the ability to use these other senses to understand the science behind Alchemy does not make it any less important. What you are referring to in your one-size-fits-all "Scientific Method" is called Scientism. A belief, just like religion, that the only method that matters is the accepted method.
- kortilla 4y agoIf there aren’t testable explanations or predictions, it’s not science. Otherwise the word carries no meaning.
- hypertele-Xii 4y agoThen why does the word science predate the scientific method? Clearly it used to carry meaning, even if you find it now meaningless in your zeal for the scientific method.
- kortilla 4y agoBecause people used to have far weaker vocabulary. Science before “the scientific method” was roughly some very vague “thinking about the world logically”. It was too open ended to be useful and it wasn’t until the scientific method brought some rigor that it became useful.
- smolder 4y agoAre you actually on HN arguing that alchemy is some kind of real thing, a skill that we lost? Different senses? Is this a joke? My understanding of alchemy is that its practitioners tried to transmute matter from one kind to another, e.g. lead to gold, because they didn't know enough about how matter worked to know they'd always fail.
- trinsic2 4y agoYes It really was and is a thing. There are lots of people on Hacker News that are not in the place of dismissing things they don't understand. And yes it was a skill that was lost. The only joke is the fact that people lost touch with a lot of ancient knowledge and think everything revolves around this so called accepted "Scientific Method" belief that has dominated our world for way too long.
- smolder 4y agoBeing that you didn't back up your claim about alchemy with anything, I don't believe you have any idea what you're talking about. Turn off the Ancient Aliens, or whatever YouTube series has given you these ideas about lost ancient knowledge. Work on your epistemology. People will tell you literally anything sensational if it's supported by advertising and makes them a buck. All the content I've seen about ancient lost knowledge is chock full of easy to debunk claims and willful misrepresentation of what we know about ancient history. It's content that preys on the curious but uneducated.
- trinsic2 4y agoYou don't need evidence to understand something, and most importantly, I don't need to prove to you or anyone else that I have studied alchemy to understand that is a thing that most people don't really understand. Your just someone on the internet, like everyone else. Because you bought into the belief that there is only one "Scientific Method" doesn't make you special.
- smolder 4y agoThis amounts to a bunch of nonsense and I wish you would reconsider commenting if you have nothing to contribute.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]