The Pursuit of Ignorance
What does real scientific work look like? As neuroscientist Stuart Firestein jokes: It looks a lot less like the scientific method and a lot more like "farting around ... in the dark." In this witty talk, Firestein gets to the heart of science as it is really practiced and suggests that we should value what we don't know -- or "high-quality ignorance" -- just as much as what we know.
Replies to This Discussion
-
ModeratorPermalink Reply by John on -
This is very true!
There are things where testing a theory directly (Scientific Method) is often done. This happens primarily in QM where the actual results test metaphysical ideas. (some are in the Science group).
QM is really weird and predicts many things that are so far-fetched it must fail as a theory. The experimentalists have to get really tricky (may take decades before they develop the right techniques to allow a test). However, the more they push on QM to fail, the more it proves itself a solid slam dunk on "reality". The Mathematics is right. The Mathematics is more a manipulation within an infinite dimensional space consisting of functions over imaginary/complex numbers. One rather has to throw reality out the window, it is a meaningless unknowable.
Most things are done to look in places, energies, etc to see if something "new" pops up. If you do not look you will not really know if "new" is out there. i.e. looking for anything they haven't seen before; the black cat can be pretty hard to find. Just keep looking and groping around. Perhaps you may stick your hand around the tail of a black adder. That is why the cat is not in that room. However - turning on the light may find the cat that was there AND not there at the same time, appears. Cheshire lives! maybe. sigh
-
Permalink Reply by Paul lee James on
-
John,
I am wondering if the qm means question method. (I have found out hoping I am right about the qm method,that questions can lead us to answers). But I have found out the hard way how to ask the question to get answers and not one answer. (It's how we ask the question, even with the facts or assunptions or theories or general guessing).The question throws light on the subject out of the questions and the different knowledges the answer is there. I am convinced and or persuaded that science as knowledge depends both on the question being understood by the asker and receiver. The answer is always in the mix of answers at some point.Mathematics as does language has it's own interpretation. Paul
-
ModeratorPermalink Reply by John on -
That was confusing on my part - by QM I meant Quantum Mechanics.
In science it is a crazy theory that is full of crazy results that no sane person would believe. However, the Real World functions as predicted by it. No one knows why. It says almost nothing about reality, but describes it fully (via/(by way of) predictions).
It's best left out of this discussion. The film-clip was quite true (The TED talk).
© 2024 Created by Theosophy Network.
Powered by
