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I think it's noteworthy when science "discovers" things that are common knowledge within a particular interest group. Like the one mentioned in the link below

I think it's noteworthy when science "discovers" things that are common knowledge within a particular interest group. Like the one mentioned in the link below from 2019 that is commonly cited as one that shows cats are capable of "love". As a lifetime cat owner I thought this was common knowledge. https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cats-really-do-need-their-humans-even-if-they-don-n1057431 https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/cats-really-do-ne...

Etheryte 2y ago
The world is full of things that were once considered common knowledge, but are now considered silly or downright wrong. Science is exactly in the business of finding out which parts are actually true and which aren't, whether someone believed it before or not is rather irrelevant.
- benreesman 2y ago
  This is a very insightful comment and something that I wish was observed more often. I’ll differ only a little in that as a good Bayesian I’ll submit that science is about improving the rigorous basis for our worldview by attempting and failing to falsify explanatory hypotheses. Maybe that’s a nitpick, but I suspect that science would be held in better regard if us nerds were a bit more careful about saying what is and isn’t true or false on the basis of science, which is not a particularly scientific way to talk (of which I’m as guilty as anyone).
JohnMakin 2y ago
Yea, seriously. My cat is 15 and she is pretty intelligent. She knows about a dozen verbal commands and I’ve noticed over the years will perk up or come out of nowhere when certain words are used. She also will respond and (usually) come when you call out her name like a dog. It did take a very long time though, like 5-7 years and a lot of trust established to get to this point, but I think it’s been fairly obvious for a long time now that cats are very habituated to humans and human habits, maybe even as much as dogs. One of the difficulties for science when studying cats is they are so aloof and take time to build trust, that observing these behaviors in a study setting is pretty hard. Even mine will totally understand what I’m saying (her ears will perk up and twitch) but she’ll ignore me sometimes.

Etheryte 2y ago

The world is full of things that were once considered common knowledge, but are now considered silly or downright wrong. Science is exactly in the business of finding out which parts are actually true and which aren't, whether someone believed it before or not is rather irrelevant.

benreesman 2y ago
This is a very insightful comment and something that I wish was observed more often. I’ll differ only a little in that as a good Bayesian I’ll submit that science is about improving the rigorous basis for our worldview by attempting and failing to falsify explanatory hypotheses. Maybe that’s a nitpick, but I suspect that science would be held in better regard if us nerds were a bit more careful about saying what is and isn’t true or false on the basis of science, which is not a particularly scientific way to talk (of which I’m as guilty as anyone).

JohnMakin 2y ago

Yea, seriously. My cat is 15 and she is pretty intelligent. She knows about a dozen verbal commands and I’ve noticed over the years will perk up or come out of nowhere when certain words are used. She also will respond and (usually) come when you call out her name like a dog. It did take a very long time though, like 5-7 years and a lot of trust established to get to this point, but I think it’s been fairly obvious for a long time now that cats are very habituated to humans and human habits, maybe even as much as dogs. One of the difficulties for science when studying cats is they are so aloof and take time to build trust, that observing these behaviors in a study setting is pretty hard. Even mine will totally understand what I’m saying (her ears will perk up and twitch) but she’ll ignore me sometimes.