How much of science is fact?

[Simalacrum]

Ok... so you don't trust science, what then? How do you explain the world around you? Religion? I don't mean to spread flames or hate, but I'd rather go with the lads and lasses in white coats.

 

[DrunkWithPower]

Shit, forgot to say, i'm not questioning the ideas. I'm just saying how what we know is always changing.

"What we know is always changing".... that's life.

 

[bladester1]

As an undergraduate chemistry major, and from my professors at the university, science is about proving what is false, not what is true, so technically nothing in science is a true cold hard fact.

 

[Iron Mal]

Shit, forgot to say, i'm not questioning the ideas. I'm just saying how what we know is always changing.

That's just the nature of science, theories evolve and improve as our collective knowledge grows (it would be odd if something which bases it's information off of observation and experimentation set itself as immutable and undeniable fact from the word go).

This is why science is actually quite reliable (if we find a mistake or inconsistancy we can correct it).

 

[Xvito]

Haha, that reminded me of one of the talk-shows in Grand Theft Auto 4.

"How can we trust DNA? I mean, what is it? I ain't never seen it..."

Good times...

Also, everything doesn't change, it's just that they make new discoveries that add onto the old ones.

 

[Legion]

See, to an extent I agree, that's because I don't blindly follow what the smart science man on TV tells me.

I saw a documentary based around a 50 tonne shark. The only remains of this shark that has been discovered is teeth and a few spinal columns and yet they miraculously know what it looks like, what it's hunting technique was, what it's prey was, and how it died out.

It's all just speculation because it died out about 25 million years ago (remember they only have teeth and a few pieces of spinal column here) and there is no way in hell they can know this stuff reliably.

I am not saying that scientists don't know what they are doing, but a lot of it is still speculation and anyone blindly following theories that have been "proven" but they have not witnessed for their self are just as foolish as the atheists on this forum love to claim religious followers are.

As an undergraduate chemistry major, and from my professors at the university, science is about proving what is false, not what is true, so technically nothing in science is a true cold hard fact.

Which is the kind of science I like, not the BS that all the atheists on here seem to think is as unquestionable as the Christians find the Bible (which is ironic considering most Christians are smart enough not to take the Bible word for word).

 

[grimsprice]

Well... with science they usually have to test their theories, even if it's in a smaller form. The dinosaur typing changes as technology is becoming better.(Akward wording on the last line.)

You test a Hypothesis, a theory is fact.

You think up a hypothesis, when you can back it up with tests and facts, its a theory. Nothing in science is written in stone. Not even gravity.

 

[phi161]

The Babel fish is small, yellow and leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe. It feeds on brainwave energy recieved not from its own carrier but from those around it, It absorbs all unconscious mental frequencies from this brainwave energy to nourish itself with. the practical upshot of this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any language.

Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mind-bogglingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. The argument goes like this : "I refuse to prove that I exist", says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."

"But", says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? it could not have evolved by chance. it proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."

"Oh dear", says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

"Oh that was easy" says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

'Bable fish' is of course interchangeable with pretty much anything

 

[alex1314159]

Ok, so all of the science that has been proven is true. All of the science that has not been proven is not true.

 

[Zac_Dai]

Yeah you're right, God must of done it all.

 

[CIA]

The Babel fish is small, yellow and leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe. It feeds on brainwave energy recieved not from its own carrier but from those around it, It absorbs all unconscious mental frequencies from this brainwave energy to nourish itself with. the practical upshot of this is that if you stick a Babel fish in your ear you can instantly understand anything said to you in any language.

Now it is such a bizarrely improbable coincidence that anything so mind-bogglingly useful could have evolved purely by chance that some thinkers have chosen to see as a final and clinching proof of the non-existence of God. The argument goes like this : "I refuse to prove that I exist", says God, "for proof denies faith, and without faith I am nothing."

"But", says Man, "the Babel fish is a dead giveaway isn't it? it could not have evolved by chance. it proves you exist, and so therefore, by your own arguments, you don't. QED."

"Oh dear", says God, "I hadn't thought of that," and promptly vanishes in a puff of logic.

"Oh that was easy" says Man, and for an encore goes on to prove that black is white and gets himself killed on the next zebra crossing.

That was refreshing. Thank you.

 

[The_ModeRazor]

Welcome to the modern world, sir knight.

 

[Sewer Rat]

This

 

[PurpleRain]

Shit, forgot to say, i'm not questioning the ideas. I'm just saying how what we know is always changing.

You know what science is? Go look it up. No? Okay, I'll do it for you:

sci⋅ence
?noun
1. a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws: the mathematical sciences.
2. systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.
3. any of the branches of natural or physical science.
4. systematized knowledge in general.
5. knowledge, as of facts or principles; knowledge gained by systematic study.
6. a particular branch of knowledge.
7. skill, esp. reflecting a precise application of facts or principles; proficiency.

Science basically is testing things, looking at things and checking how they work. Ideas aren't changing. Methods may be. But we can only take in what we can test and observe. From what data we have we can work out the speed of light. Use that to work out the distance from stars. Work out how their is radiation drifts in the universe caused most likely by a massive explosion.

We can get fact from rigorous testing, but from those facts we can only get theories to how things work. Carbon dating is fact after finding the right tools and chemicals for the job.

Here's a bit you should read up on:
http://hbar.phys.msu.ru/gorm/fomenko/libby.htm

What was fact a hundred years ago is now seen as naive hypotheses.

They were theories back then. They weren't fact as there was no hard evidence. Today, rules are a bit tighter on what fact is.
All those 'facts' about the universe, etc, look again because in all fact they are theories.

In physics, there are particles that make up protons and neutrons. From what we ?know? they are composed of quarks. It?s interesting, but I?ve never seen atoms, let alone quarks. And even if they do exist, how do we have a measurement of their mass?

You can't see atoms? Odd. I can. I'm looking at one right now. Big fella too. Barks a lot.
You mad?! Really? Because you can't see it means it doesn't exist? What about wind?
Plus, atoms have no mass as I was aware. The vibrations that they cause however create energy. (Anyone want to correct me)

I don't know if I can trust if the speed of light is 300,000,000 meters per second. I don't see how it is possible for anyone to know that.

They time it on a stopwatch. Again, are you mad? People, believe it or not, have tools for this kind of thing. And if the results are consistent, and the following hundreds and thousands of tests and maths back it up I'm having a hard time disproving it.

 

[grimsprice]

*scientific* fact.

Fact: a ball falls downward every time.
Theory: Gravity, is an attractive force between objects of mass.

Fact: the plug in the wall can light up your lamp.
Theory: Flowing electrons can heat metals through resistance creating photons.


A fact, in short, is something that can be seen, felt, or sensed in some way. A Theory, in short, is an explanation of why those facts happen. Theories are not *scientific fact*, they are explanations of facts. And if new facts are found, theories are amended accordingly.

 

[Three Eyed Cyclops]

You are right in that what is perceived as fact changes with time. This is however how the scientific process works. In general, first you observe something, then you come up with an explanation for it. Generally the next thing you do is come up with tests to prove that your explanation is wrong. If it is wrong then you go back and come up with a new theory. if it is right you kept testing it farther until you prove it wrong or until there are no more tests left that you can do. At that point it can be considered to be true (or as true as something can be).

As for your scientific questions you pose, there are experiments that you can perform to test them. In fact if you want (and are willing to do some work) to see if the speed of light in a vacuum is really about 300 000 000 m/s. That is the wonderful thing about science. If someone claims something, you can always repeat their experiment for yourself and call bull shit on them if they made stuff up.

 

[AkJay]

Question: How much of science is fact?

Scientist: 90%, we are still trying to discover the missing 10%
Christians: 50%
Atheists: 100%
Me: 75%

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

I'm... speechless... The reason that science is what it is is that new theories replace old ones, adaptability is it's strength.

 

[Acidwell]

The idea of dinosaurs is also ridiculous.

What exactly is your explanation for huge sets of bones buried deep under the earth?

 

[alex1314159]

I'm sorry my previous post was wrong, replace "a fact" "true"