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You are oversimplifying science, especially theoretic physics. At the point where we are, there are neither any quick/cheap tests, and there is no objectivity.

You are oversimplifying science, especially theoretic physics. At the point where we are, there are neither any quick/cheap tests, and there is no objectivity. The space of possible correct theories is infinite, and humans are simply not smart enough to come up frameworks to objectively truncate the space. If we were, we would have made progress already. There is a lot of subjectivity and art to designing good experiments, not to mention a lot of philosophical insight. I know a lot of scientists deny the role of philosophy in science, but I see all the top physicists in my fields liberally use philosophy - not philosopher type philosophy but physicist type philosophy - to guide their scientific exploration.

austin-cheney 2y ago
I am not. You are using bias as an excuse to qualify poor objectivity. I am fully aware that astrophysics contains a scale and diversity of data beyond my imagination, but that volume of data does not excuse an absence of common business practices. > The space of possible correct theories is infinite That is not unique to any form of science, engineering, or even software products. > and humans are simply not smart enough to... That is why test automation is a thing.
naasking 2y ago
> and humans are simply not smart enough to come up frameworks to objectively truncate the space. We are, but some people stubbornly resist such things. For instance, MOND reproducing the Tully-Fisher relation and being unexpectedly successful at making many other predictions suggests that any theories purporting to explain dark matter/gravitational anomalies should probably have MOND-like qualities in some limit. That would effectively prune the space of possible theories. Instead, they've gone in the complete opposite direction, basically ignoring MOND and positing different matter distributions just to fit observations, while MOND, against all odds since it's not ultimately correct, continues to make successful predictions we're now seeing in JWST data.
- abdullahkhalids 2y ago
  Note that when I say humans, I mean how the whole worldwide social institution/network of scientists, with all its inherent hierarchies and politics. Because that is the social network that ultimately comes to some consensus on what the best theories at any given moment are. Its indeed possible, in fact "necessary" that some individual scientists within this network by luck or brains come up with much better theories, but sometimes those theories are not accepted by others or they are. But ultimately all that matters is the consensus.
  - austin-cheney 2y ago
    Holy fuck guy. Take a step back and do some self-reflection. Any time people post about physics on here its all emotions about how hard life is. With so much longing for sympathy its amazing anything in the field ever gets published. Unless you are looking for research grants stop crying about consensus and instead return to evidence and proofs. There will always be a million sad tears in your big sad community. If that is your greatest concern its going to take you a million years to prove what you already know, because all the sad people you are showing it to are just as sad and self-loathing about social concerns as you are.

austin-cheney 2y ago

I am not. You are using bias as an excuse to qualify poor objectivity. I am fully aware that astrophysics contains a scale and diversity of data beyond my imagination, but that volume of data does not excuse an absence of common business practices. > The space of possible correct theories is infinite That is not unique to any form of science, engineering, or even software products. > and humans are simply not smart enough to... That is why test automation is a thing.

naasking 2y ago

> and humans are simply not smart enough to come up frameworks to objectively truncate the space. We are, but some people stubbornly resist such things. For instance, MOND reproducing the Tully-Fisher relation and being unexpectedly successful at making many other predictions suggests that any theories purporting to explain dark matter/gravitational anomalies should probably have MOND-like qualities in some limit. That would effectively prune the space of possible theories. Instead, they've gone in the complete opposite direction, basically ignoring MOND and positing different matter distributions just to fit observations, while MOND, against all odds since it's not ultimately correct, continues to make successful predictions we're now seeing in JWST data.

abdullahkhalids 2y ago
Note that when I say humans, I mean how the whole worldwide social institution/network of scientists, with all its inherent hierarchies and politics. Because that is the social network that ultimately comes to some consensus on what the best theories at any given moment are. Its indeed possible, in fact "necessary" that some individual scientists within this network by luck or brains come up with much better theories, but sometimes those theories are not accepted by others or they are. But ultimately all that matters is the consensus.
- austin-cheney 2y ago
  Holy fuck guy. Take a step back and do some self-reflection. Any time people post about physics on here its all emotions about how hard life is. With so much longing for sympathy its amazing anything in the field ever gets published. Unless you are looking for research grants stop crying about consensus and instead return to evidence and proofs. There will always be a million sad tears in your big sad community. If that is your greatest concern its going to take you a million years to prove what you already know, because all the sad people you are showing it to are just as sad and self-loathing about social concerns as you are.