vandiver49
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RE: The bible says the Earth may be millions of years old
(07-30-2014 07:37 AM)JDTulane Wrote: Real scientists are wrong all the time. My success to failure ratio is like 1:5
Which is why I dislike the direction science is going by trying to convince the populace that their findings are absolute.
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07-30-2014 10:32 AM |
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JDTulane
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RE: The bible says the Earth may be millions of years old
(07-30-2014 10:32 AM)vandiver49 Wrote: (07-30-2014 07:37 AM)JDTulane Wrote: Real scientists are wrong all the time. My success to failure ratio is like 1:5
Which is why I dislike the direction science is going by trying to convince the populace that their findings are absolute.
When support for a topic is overwhelming I don't have a problem telling the general public "This is where things are going". But real scientists don't speak in absolutes. Media does.
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07-30-2014 10:55 AM |
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Claw
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RE: The bible says the Earth may be millions of years old
(07-30-2014 12:13 AM)dmacfour Wrote: (07-29-2014 11:15 PM)Claw Wrote: (07-29-2014 07:44 AM)AirRaid Wrote: (07-29-2014 06:58 AM)vandiver49 Wrote: (07-29-2014 06:25 AM)AirRaid Wrote: LOL? Who gives a crap. You don't need anyone to buy anything when it comes to facts. Just like 1 will always be greater 0, no one cares if the public believes it or not. Facts are facts.
40 years ago the Earth was considered to be 3 billion years old. Chances are in another 40 years the number will probably be upped again. The age of the Earth and Universe is something we are forced to infer with the little data on hand and methods of extrapolation that require multiple assumptions.
And 40 years ago we didn't have the technology we do today. Safe to say we are closer to the real number today than 40 years ago. We are going to keep getting more and more accurate, and not simply going arbitrarily change numbers every 40 years.
There is this assumption that I see everywhere that all scientific progress brings more accurate results. Is that really an accurate assumption? Does that somehow excuse being wrong?
It's okay if we're wrong - we're scientists. There is an elitism there that is, frankly, dangerous. It is the seed of intolerance that sometimes grows into the most damnable type of social destruction.
That doesn't make any sense. The real danger is making claims of absolute truth. The beauty of the scientific method is that there is always some level of uncertainty.
You are ignoring the actual impact of bad science on people's lives.
Banning DDT cost millions of lives. It was based on bad science.
The examples in the medical field are numerous, but I don't know if that should be considered "science". Should it? I'm not sure. But there has been a lot of bad medicine in my lifetime.
Yes, the scientific method is beautiful, but it is certainly dangerous as well.
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07-30-2014 11:18 PM |
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vandiver49
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RE: The bible says the Earth may be millions of years old
(07-30-2014 11:18 PM)Claw Wrote: You are ignoring the actual impact of bad science on people's lives.
Banning DDT cost millions of lives. It was based on bad science.
The examples in the medical field are numerous, but I don't know if that should be considered "science". Should it? I'm not sure. But there has been a lot of bad medicine in my lifetime.
Yes, the scientific method is beautiful, but it is certainly dangerous as well.
Agreed.
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07-31-2014 06:40 AM |
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jh
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RE: The bible says the Earth may be millions of years old
(07-30-2014 11:18 PM)Claw Wrote: You are ignoring the actual impact of bad science on people's lives.
Banning DDT cost millions of lives. It was based on bad science.
The examples in the medical field are numerous, but I don't know if that should be considered "science". Should it? I'm not sure. But there has been a lot of bad medicine in my lifetime.
Yes, the scientific method is beautiful, but it is certainly dangerous as well.
But what could you replace it with that would work any better? You don't have to outrun the bear, just your friend.
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07-31-2014 11:38 AM |
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