RE: What can science prove?
March 14, 2010 at 10:34 pm
(This post was last modified: March 14, 2010 at 10:36 pm by Frank.)
(March 14, 2010 at 10:12 pm)Tiberius Wrote: No, they all rely on things that science has deduced have a high probability of being correct. There is a big difference between something being very likely to be correct, and actually correct.
There is nothing in the scientific method that can objectively confirm something as absolutely true.
OK I'll play the semantical game here. If you were to ask me if flying pink gummy bears exist, I'd say no. Can I say with absolute 100% certainty that flying pink gummy bears never existed anywhere in the universe at anytime? I suppose not ... but that's really just a bunch of lard isn't it? Flying pink gummy bears never existed, and I'm absolutely certain of that fact.
Let's go one further (these games are always sort of fun, if you have a good sense of humor). We know gummy bears are a candy, and no such creature ever existed, let alone a flying version of a gummy bear. What are the chances that we invented a candy, and in my mockery here I described a creature, based on that candy, which actually exists somewhere in the universe? It would of course be pure coincidence if it did exist. In fact it could only be a coincidence that had a one in several trillion chance of being true. However, maybe if mankind can survive for billions of years, and trillions of little comical hypotheticals like this are made (about trillions of different imaginary creatures) I suppose, statistically speaking, one of them will eventually be true (hey, maybe there really are flying gummy bears somewhere in the universe).
So OK sure, if you'd like to base a philosophical or scientific axiom on that sort of outlandish thing, be my guest. How about I rephrase it. I like to think of things in terms of practical certainty. I'm certain the computer monitor I'm viewing this screen on exists, and I exist along with it. Is there a one in perhaps several trillion chance I could be wrong? I don't know, and I don't care, because it's immaterial. Subjectively I know both I and the monitor exist. I know we objectively exist, because the world treats me and the monitor as existing things. Therefore, I'm certain I (and the monitor) exist.
If you guys like to spend your time wondering if you exist or not .... again, enjoy! Far be it from me to be a party pooper.
(March 14, 2010 at 10:16 pm)Arcanus Wrote:(March 14, 2010 at 10:08 pm)Frank Wrote: I'm not sure where the red herring is coming from. (I never said or [implied] science has a brain).
No, but Bramblepath did (which my direct quote indicated as being who that responded to).
sorry bout that dude


