RE: What are Laws of Nature?
March 21, 2022 at 1:10 pm
(This post was last modified: March 21, 2022 at 1:22 pm by Anomalocaris.)
(March 21, 2022 at 12:53 pm)Mister Agenda Wrote:(March 21, 2022 at 9:01 am)Istvan Wrote: I'd take that bet.
You count how many times people in these kinds of discussions chant slogans like Science is true no matter what you believe, use the term "science" as if it's synonymous with "reality," and declare that anyone who doubts that our scientific knowledge corresponds to the nature of the physical universe is some kind of lunatic.
And I'll count how many times people say that science is a human construct with all the biases and cultural influences that entails, admit that scientific progress is inextricably linked to war, politics and business, and that our knowledge is merely imposing order on the chaos of phenomena to make it comprehensible to humans.
You really think there's a question as to whose bucket fills up first?
Slogans are a short and striking memorable phrase, usually used in advertising. I don't think you'll find many people here who think they're statements of 100% accuracy. I think it's highly questionable whose bucket will fill up first here if the choices are
'Science is true no matter what you believe'
and
'Science is a human construct with all the biases and cultural influences that entails'
actually, at a fundamental level, the two are not mutually exclusive. They can both be true. In fact it is unlikely for it to be otherwise in any practical system.
material facts are not any less factual if the process whereby the facts are determined meandered through biases and cultural influences.
It would be insipid to posit that demonstrability of the resulting facts should be weighed more lightly if cultural biase can be identified in the process of their determination.