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Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Nature of Science at its Core...

I often go to Dr. Dutch's site to read on various topics of interest (Science, Pseudoscience, and Irrationalism) and I respect that he has a uniform approach to everything he writes. Every site starts off with the same disclosure of sorts to inform or remind readers what they're getting into. Here's a sample of what I'm hoping to adapt into my classroom in terms of addressing student misconceptions and preconceptions on difficult concepts...

A Note to Visitors

I will respond to questions and comments as time permits, but if you want to take issue with any position expressed here, you first have to answer this question:

What evidence would it take to prove your beliefs wrong?

I simply will not reply to challenges that do not address this question. Refutability is one of the classic determinants of whether a theory can be called scientific. Moreover, I have found it to be a great general-purpose cut-through-the-crap question to determine whether somebody is interested in serious intellectual inquiry or just playing mind games. Note, by the way, that I am assuming the burden of proof here - all you have to do is commit to a criterion for testing. It's easy to criticize science for being "closed-minded". Are you open-minded enough to consider whether your ideas might be wrong?

What's Here and Not Here, And Why

Things on this site generally fit one of the following criteria:

  • They're within my area of technical expertise (earth science, physical sciences, astronomy)
  • They pertain to the general nature of science
  • They pertain to other areas where I have personal experience (military issues)
  • They pertain to topics where blatantly fallacious logic is involved

Although there is plenty of pseudoscience related to medical fads, diets, and the paranormal, I don't deal with them much because they are outside my formal training.

There are certain things I don't put here because this is a site hosted by a public institution

  • Partisan political positions. Goofy court decisions based on bad reasoning, dumb remarks by politicians or the press, and politically endorsed pseudoscience movements are fair game. The science or supporting logic are the issue, not the party or candidate.
  • Religious proselytizing. If your religion says something that conflicts with objective evidence, your religion is wrong. That's the case whether you're an Indian who wants to dispose of Kennewick Man because you believe your tribe has always lived there, or a Christian who believes in a young earth, or a Mormon who believes the Indians descended from the Israelites, or a Muslim who rejects evolution. Those doctrines are fair game here. But my own private beliefs, or yours, except insofar as they can be analyzed with logic and data (and that is a lot more than some people believe and a lot less than others believe), are not. And if your religion refuses to admit the possibility of correction, it's not just wrong on some specific point, it's wrong - period.
  • The existence or nonexistence of God is not a topic for this site. Claims that science can be used to settle the issue one way or the other? Make my day.
  • Generally, the less direct contact people in a debate have with the opposition, the more prone they are to demonizing and stereotyping. In several cases I have paired pages dealing with conflicts where both extremes are guilty of very similar factual and logical fallacies.

"Respect"

Every so often I get e-mails from people complaining I don't treat these topics or their believers with respect.

There is nothing in crank movements worthy of respect.

First of all, cranks don't treat the orthodox with respect. They can accuse science of willfully neglecting or falsifying evidence. They can accuse their own nation of bringing down skyscrapers and causing thousands of deaths, or deliberately breaching levees to flood New Orleans, but aim a little critical language at them, and they howl about being "disrespected." Aww, poo' baby.

They're right. I do disrespect them.

Then there's the sheer waste of it all. Cities are increasingly privatizing their public libraries, but there always seems to be money to support crackpot movements. We can't drum up enthusiasm for space travel but we can hold conventions at Roswell to commemorate UFO's. These people are parasites. They do nothing to advance real learning in our society and drain resources into crank movements that will never benefit anyone except charlatans.

Respect? Take it to someone who cares.

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