View Single Post
Old 09-23-2012, 09:10 AM   #79
SeanL
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 351
SeanL is infamous around these partsSeanL is infamous around these partsSeanL is infamous around these partsSeanL is infamous around these parts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Murphy3 View Post
"Facts" and "science" change frequently. Whenever mankind knows all there is to know about biology, go ahead and get back to me. How often are "facts" changed because of a new discovery? How often do we do one thing because of the beliefs of science only to be told to do something else in the future? Dear God, just look at suggested eating habits.... Don't tell me that hasn't changed over the years..constantly. Do all "scientists" 100% agree on that? Of course not.

So if you want to throw around big words such as science and facts, make sure you understand that the facts of science are ever changing..
The fact that you think science and facts are big words is part of the problem.

And yes science changes, but normally it builds on itself. Yes there are instances where well "known" facts completely change, but normally those changes are mere improvements of previous theories.

For example, Newton's laws of motion are actually not "correct", as Einstein showed with the special theory of relativity matter changes its behavior as it approaches the speed of light. In fact even though it is a theory your iPhone would not work without the special theory of relativity, so there is an algorithm for the GPS in your iPhone that adjusts for what the theory of relativity calls "time dilation."

Does that mean Newton's laws of motion are trash? No of course not. While it is wrong in a sense it is still a building block towards the next scientific achievement (the theory of relativity). And for the purposes of high school physics Newton's equations work relatively well (because the effects of time dilation are extremely small in slow moving objects). And I'm sure one day some great scientist will improve our current understanding of motion.

Now is the scientific method perfect? No, nothing is, but as Winston Churchill said of democracy, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." The scientific method has been shown to be the best system for gathering facts, and until something better comes along it is foolish to not accept that it is currently the best thing out there for gathering evidence.

Last edited by SeanL; 09-23-2012 at 09:18 AM.
SeanL is offline   Reply With Quote