How reliable is science? (Assumption 2/7) (The limitations of science)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Friday, April 20, 2012, 01:24 (4379 days ago) @ xeno6696
edited by unknown, Friday, April 20, 2012, 02:22


> > > That said, it IS the idea of daughter products that forces a dating scientist to go through all the trouble I just mentioned in order to come up with a reliable date estimate. [And in scientific circles they ALL know they're dealing with estimates.] But most importantly, in the scientific literature, they *always* give what the +/- date range is, because the first check another scientist is going to do, is "how much error was in that measurement?"
> > 
> > 
> > But they don't generally post it in the layman's literature, do they?
> 
> MATT: No, but MOST scientists don't give "two shits" about the layman. 
> 
> I don't have a problem with this. Scientific fields to me are for the elite only: if you're not willing to learn, you don't deserve to know.-And here is my problem with that statement. I KNOW there is an error value, but without access to each and every paper I have no clue what the error value IS for that particular bit of research. So where does that put me? Knowledgeable enough to know that their figures are screwed up but not wealthy enough to find out how screwed up they are because I can't afford to buy their research papers. That is precisely the position a lot of people are in. You can't assume that just because someone isn't a 'scientist' that they are an idiot, even if the world IS full of them.-If scientist in general are as elitist as you present them to be, then I would also recommend that society jerk the bug out of their collective rear ends and remind them who pays the bills. Your colleges, universities, institutions, pell grants, research grants, and a whole host of other non-trivial things are paid for by John Q. Layman Taxpayer. Scientist have a RESPONSIBILITY to give two shits about the layman, and they would do well to remember that.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.