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Basing science on proof (or anyway believing that you can) is Logical Positivism, a mindset that opposes the method of falsifiability. But of course mathematics
by card_zero 17d ago
Basing science on proof (or anyway believing that you can) is Logical Positivism, a mindset that opposes the method of falsifiability. But of course mathematics is all about proof, and for that reason I was wary of it for a very long time.
- trhway 17d ago>Basing science on proof (or anyway believing that you can) is Logical Positivism, a mindset that opposes the method of falsifiability not really. You can consider positive proof as an experiment confirming your theory and the negative proof and counter examples as an experiment falsifying your theory.
- card_zero 17d agoYes, really. "Positive proof" opposes the concept of falsification. You can only have it within a system formal logic, and science can contain those, but isn't one.
- trhway 17d ago>"Positive proof" opposes the concept of falsification. no. Positive proofs have nothing to do with falsification. They just tell you that there is no point in spending effort on searching for negative proofs and counter examples. They don't prevent nor prohibit you from spending that effort. They just advise you that that effort will be wasted. It is like nobody prevents from experiments to turn lead into gold. Of from searching for a right angled triangle violating Pythagoras.
- card_zero 16d ago... within a system formal logic.
- someguynamedq 17d agoFortunately this is not basing science on proof. It's just making it much easier to do proofs when that is what we choose to do