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Re: Improve Scientific Method
Lloyd said:
Is there any reason the 7 step scientific method I outlined above would not be able to reveal which supposed sciences are actually antiscience?
The problem is that we don't have a clear definition of what is good/bad for society. I think that part of what Brant doesn't like is that ambiguity — if it's open to interpretation, then a global warming scam can be considered a benefit to society (in some sort of rationalized political way), while under no circumstances could a scam be considered true science.
 
But I think that there is actually more to it than that.
 
brant said:
In my view science is a tool. Does a gun benefit society? Depends on who you ask and whose life is at stake at that moment in time.
This is true, but science is the kind of tool that encourages good use. Recall Alexander Pope's words, "A little learning is a dangerous thing — drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring, where shallow draft intoxicates the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again." So it's not that any science could be used for good or for bad. It's that the more you know, the more likely you are to put your knowledge to good use.
 
Furthermore, if we were to wonder what might benefit society, we could only answer if we already had a full understanding of ourselves and the world in which we live. Is anthropomorphic global warming good or bad (if it is real)? It's presented as bad, but the Earth is presently still cooler that the Medieval Optimum (which is now being called just the "Medieval Warm Period" so it doesn't conflict with the political agenda of global warming being bad). Only a far more mature science could answer whether or not the world is actually warming up now, and if so, if people had anything to do with it, and either way, whether it is good or bad. So science is not only the tool, but also the measuring instrument by which we determine its proper use. You can't have good applications of science until you have a mature science to apply. Then it will tell you how to do it. ;)

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