The Natural Philosopher wrote:

> And of course there is no such thing as a 'scientific truth'.
>
> Einstein blew that to bits when he replaced Newton's invisible forces
> with bent space instead, because it worked *better* . That was really
> the end of classical science.
>
> Physicists started to realise that physics wasn't about uncovering
> truths so much as simply creating models that worked. Karl Popper
> elucidated the whole position of science rather well in that respect.
> And once you move science out of the realm of 'truth discovery' and into
> the realm of 'model invention', you run into the Problem of Induction.
>
> Unfortunately today most scientists are still stuck in a post
> enlightenment mind set, and think science 'reveals truths', and when
> confronted by Art Students who correctly state 'but you cant be sure'
> instead of playing to sciences strengths - namely that it *works* -
> they get all stupid and start wittering on about 'scientifically proven
> truths', which proves they know as little *about* science as Max Planck.
> And that you can be a scientist without ever understanding what it is in
> fact you are doing.
>
> And this is why science is in a state., because people *believe* in it
> without *understanding it* which is why people with letters after their
> names can spout appalling non scientific rubbish, and be believed
> because they are *'scientists'*. We are taught, or we learn to think, in
> one dimensional boolean logic: 'Newton was right, gravity exists, it's a
> scientific fact, in the real world'
>
> Except as Einstein showed, it wasn't, In fact *every one* of those
> statements is ultimately false.
>
> And that's the problem with externalising what are ultimately inductive
> propositions.
>
> It's very hard to move backwards from 'gravity is a fact in the world'
> to 'gravity is an approximate model, in your mind, that kinda works well
> enough to get you to the moon, but it may not be any more real than that'
>
> And when the Art Student gets hold of sociology, the whole thing becomes
> farcical.  They stick an -ism on the back of anything and call it 'real
> objective fact'.
>
> Dude, it's all in your fucking *minds* - socialism, communism, fascism,
> sexism, racism, feminism....these aren't *real* -  they are very
> approximate and very ill defined labels for patterns that may or may not
> have any meaning whatsoever. And whose chief *use* seems to be to stir
> up social conflict...
>

I will print this and hang it on the wall as it summarizes the problem
perfectly. This is why after I got my degree I found out the plumber and
the mechanic from the nearest car shops deserve more respect than people
with whatever title infront or after the name.

But please do not forget the truth seekers. After this current middle age is
over they will be the new Newtons or Einsteins.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05