“Science is not about learning the truth. It is about making our beliefs less false.”
-- Physicist James Gates Jr. on NPR’s “Speaking of Faith” (March 18, 2007)
I came across this thought provoking quote. Agree? Disagree?
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I'm not sure it even makes sense, as stated, although I think I understand what he's getting at -- that we can never really know the truth. We can only get incrementally closer to it by ruling out the obviously false stuff.
Posted by: tgirsch | April 03, 2008 at 15:10
I can tell you that from a scientist's point of view, research involves not only showing evidence for an assertion, but also falsifying the alternatives. So, this quote makes sense.
Posted by: SteveC | April 04, 2008 at 16:03
Makes perfect sense to me. Whenever I devise a new experiment or interpret data, most of my time is spent thinking up ways to show that my hypothesis is false.
What has made science so darned effective in the last four hundred years is that it provides a mechanism, albeit imperfect, for identifying our false beliefs and for overcoming our biases in favor of those beliefs.
It's also what makes arguments about particular controversial scientific fields so head-banging-on-the-desk frustrating. Non-scientists often demand The Experiment That Proves It All and are dismissive of argments that appeal to a large body of data. As a wise man once said, proof is for alcohol, not science
Posted by: Nick | April 07, 2008 at 09:12