Comments on: More things everyone should know about science

By: Peter Turney

Peter Turney — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 20:00:56 +0000

Science, when done properly, is really hard work!

One could equally well say, “Riding a bicycle, when done properly, is really hard work! It requires certain natural talents not possessed by all people to the same degree.” Yes, this is true, if you’re talking about Olympic-quality bicycle riding. Likewise, your statement is true, if you’re talking about Nobel-quality science.

On the other, applying basic science to your daily life is as easy as riding your bicycle around your block. In essence, science is an attitude that says experiments outrank all non-experiment-based arguments. Anybody can have this attitude, if they want it.

By: Nick

Nick — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 06:12:08 +0000

While a senior scientist in one field can reasonably be expected to be able to understand research in another, it is not reasonable to expect that the ability to do science (properly and to any meaningful degree in the modern world) is ubiquitous. Not everyone has the aptitude to do science correctly (even though the process is essentially a controlled extension of basic learning). The yoke of rigor and the careful application of logic is extremely difficult for many people — in fact (I would argue) for MOST people. This is especially true, though, of those who process the world primarily through intuition and emotion.

The same argument can be made for theatre performance, social prowess, construction work, leadership, etc. Any skill requires practice, but it also requires some innate ability — talent. Michael Jordan has talent for basketball, but not for baseball (as he very well demonstrated). Similarly, there must exist extremely talented singers that have little or no aptitude for logical deduction and rigorous experimentation to the extent needed to pursue research in neuroscience.

Distilling the scientific method down to a few basic steps, which (as stated) anyone can do, is useful; focusing on the process over the results is essential. However, it’s not reasonable to claim that just because someone can write a grocery list that that person can also, given enough time and effort, write plays to rival Shakespeare. Science, when done properly, is really hard work! It requires certain natural talents not possessed by all people to the same degree.

By: tom

tom — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:28:41 +0000

Also…
Great Post! Bringing the scientific method itself into people’s everyday lives is REALLY important.
Sorry for not mentioning that in my earlier post.

By: tom

tom — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:21:50 +0000

Hmm. I would sum up the scientific method thus:

1 Have an idea that explains something.
2 Try to prove your idea wrong (look for counterexamples).
3 Ask what the idea predicts.
4 Go see if the predictions are correct.
5 Share idea.

I avoided the words “test your idea” and “experiment” because they are vague, scare laypeople, and don’t stress the fact that scientific ideas MUST be predictive, not just explanatory.

In fact most people in the world could wildly enhance their apparent intelligence simply by taking care to ask the following question every time they have what they think is a good idea: What does the idea predict?

Once you are used to asking that question, the method becomes a natural part of everyday life, and allows you to quickly evaluate the quality of other people’s ideas as well.

By: Digital

Digital — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 20:01:58 +0000

Very well worded. Damn shame the people who need to read it will never read through it for more then a single line of text to take out of context.