What can science prove?

[Tiberius]

Just a quick poll to see where everyone stands on this question.

[LukeMC]

I see no poll

EDIT:**okay i see it now

[tavarish]

Nothing.




...

[LukeMC]

I take it you mean "prove" in the definite, absolute sense of the word?

[Darwinian]

Nothing. It can only find evidence to support its theories but as soon as new evidence comes along to challenge your theory you must either change or reject the theory.

[Violet]

Though one could go further and say that you cannot prove anything (as things exist outside of logic)... I understood the nature of the question to mean proof as it is commonly understood... although it is true that 'proof' may not be possible

[LEDO]

Science is not an entity. It is only as sound as its human users. Science can prove evolution to one group of people and disprove it to another. The only thing science can really prove is that mankind can make it prove whatever it wants.

[Welsh cake]

Depends on what you're trying to prove, and absolute certainty is quintessentially, an ogre of wasted effort whether arguing for true or false.

All that matters is that its useful in making predictions based on scientific observations of past events.

[Oldandeasilyconfused]

Absolutely? Nothing .

For daily use? Much

Last night I saw an amazing programme on the construction of the Sydney Opera House and how science was used in its construction:

EG: it is constructed using concrete ribs and precast concrete section,held together with post tensioned internal steel cables and epoxy resin. The massive glass windows are made of laminated glass. The air conditioning system uses seawater from Sydney Harbour.The problem of corrosion by the seawater is manage by using zinca as a 'sacrifice' metal. The internal avcoustics are achieved by an internal shell mad eof plywood.

My point: Whether science proves anything absolutely is irrelevant to me. Science provides me with an explanation of the world and for every tool I use. For me,a non scientist, science is both pragmatic and rational. Religion is neither.. Yes, there gaps,and that's OK. I don't claim or need to have an answer for everything.I need only enough to live as a the human being I am. Learning is a constant and unending joy.

Sydney Opera House is a modern expressionist design, with a series of large precast concrete "shells",[4] each composed of sections of a hemisphere of the same radius, forming the roofs of the structure, set on a monumental podium. The building covers 1.8 hectares (4.5 acres) of land and is 183 metres (605 ft) long and 120 metres (388 ft) wide at its widest point. It is supported on 588 concrete piers sunk as much as 25 metres below sea level.

The roofs of the House are covered in a subtle chevron pattern with 1,056,006 glossy white- and matte-cream-colored Swedish-made tiles from Höganäs AB,[5] though, from a distance, the shells appear a uniform white.

The Concert Hall is located within the western group of shells, the Opera Theatre within the eastern group. The scale of the shells was chosen to reflect the internal height requirements, with low entrance spaces, rising over the seating areas and up to the high stage towers. The smaller venues, Drama Theatre, Playhouse, and The Studio are located beneath the Concert Hall. A smaller group of shells set to one side of the Monumental Steps houses the Bennelong Restaurant. Although the roof structures of the Sydney Opera House are commonly referred to as "shells" (as they are in this article), they are in fact not shells in a strictly structural sense, but are instead precast concrete panels supported by precast concrete ribs.[6]

Apart from the tile of the shells and the glass curtain walls of the foyer spaces, the building's exterior is largely clad with aggregate panels composed of pink granite quarried in Tarana. Significant interior surface treatments also include off-form concrete, Australian white birch plywood supplied from Wauchope in northern New South Wales, and brush box glulam.[7]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Opera_House

[downbeatplumb]

I didnt feel tempted to tick any of those boxes, am I alone?