The question of the day is: What is science?
I know that a bunch of you are actually scientists of some sort so you guys get bonus points for participation. I have some ideas of my own but I thought that I'd open up the floor a bit first. I'm not asking for a monograph or research paper just let us all know what you think science is.
And, Recon, I've got dibs on "science is anything with lasers."
(photo, "M.S. Strock measuring radio lengths at the Bureau of Standards," via shorpy)
7 comments:
Science is Jean-Luc Picard.
and not data?
wow i just realized that data is the name of the robot on the next generation and that kid from the goonies. weird.
At its core, science is a *method* of knowing, based on the idea that observation and experimentation are unsurpassed as means of discovering truth. It emerged as a formal discipline during the Renaissance and was a revolutionary way of looking at the world because it allowed individuals the ability to seek and discover knowledge on their own, and specifically, outside the Church. Anyone can formulate hypotheses and seek evidence to support them. But what distinguishes a scientific from a non-scientific discipline is the "testability" of the hypothesis. If you cannot design experiments to exclude alternative hypotheses to explain the same phenomenon or pattern, then it ain't science, baby.
"It's a TRAP"
if you're referring to "admiral ackbar is my copilot" then it is a trap indeed.
Science is also the nerd from Flight of Dragons
Oh and by the way - Data does not equal science. Remember that episode where there was a trial about whether Data qualified as human. Verdict - HUMAN. Picard used sciencey words to prove it.
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