PonderIt

Thursday, June 23, 2016

Science Doesn't Prove. Science Describes.

Listen to Guy Consolmagno, the head of the Vatican Observatory (yes, they have one) talk about the scientific process. 

That also is how science works. You take the same data and you devise more than one story to explain what is going on. Because you're not satisfied with a story that works. You want to have a story that you can test, a story that you can interpret, a story that will lead you on to newer and more interesting questions. Because you're never satisfied; because science is never finished.  
Anybody who tells you that such and such has been "proved by science" is only proving that they don't know what science is. Science doesn't prove. Math proves, but science doesn't prove. Science describes.

A few minutes before this spot where this link takes you in the talk, Consolmagno described the perfectly logical assertion that there were water canals on Mars and a civilization struggling to survive. That conclusion was logical based on the evidence available to observers with simple telescopes. Later evidence helped them reinterpret what they were seeing. 

2 Comments:

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  • Science does more than just describe, though. It also predicts. The prediction part is important.

    By Blogger Bryant, at 6/29/2016 1:23 PM  

  • Good point, Bryant. I suppose Brother Guy is wrapping that up in the concept of "testing" our assertions.

    By Blogger Bradley Ross, at 6/29/2016 1:36 PM  

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