Seth's Blog : What does "science" mean?
What does "science" mean?
To countless teenagers who had the wrong teacher in high school, it means, "a boring collection of right answers, categorized by topic."
Once we discover that some things we were taught aren't black and white any more (Pluto, DDT, infant formula), it's not surprising that people begin to go from bored to skeptical. About all of it.
Except that's not what science is.
Science is a process. It's not pretending it has the right answer, it merely has the best process to get closer to that right answer. Science is an ongoing argument, one where you show your work and make a prediction about what's going to happen next.
And you're not allowed to have magical faeries. Not allowed to change the explanation based on what just happened. You must begin again, from first principles, and make a new argument, and show new work, and make a better prediction.
Science isn't only done in the lab. Every one of us does it at work, daily.
Science isn't something to believe or not believe. It's something to do.
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