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Science is one of the loftiest expressions of the human spirit in that it has revealed to human understanding a myriad marvelous features of the changing world. The understanding has expanded the human mind immensely. The knowledge gained from science has also enabled vast numbers of people all over the world to live more fully, more healthily, and more comfortably. This assumption may be wrong. For example, it may well be that the world around is purely illusory. If so, science is interested in that illusory world.
Science is one of the loftiest expressions of the human spirit in that it has revealed to human understanding a myriad marvelous features of the changing world. The understanding has expanded the human mind immensely. The knowledge gained from science has also enabled vast numbers of people all over the world to live more fully, more healthily, and more comfortably. This assumption may be wrong. For example, it may well be that the world around is purely illusory. If so, science is interested in that illusory world.
Science is a Belief - A Worldview
Science is a Belief - A Worldview
Do you believe that the nature of nature is not capricious (i.e. impulsive, or unpredictable). Do you think it has predictable rules? Well, science contends that the processes in nature are governed by well-determined principles and laws. Even apparently sudden outbursts, such as the stupendous explosion of a supernova, the violent surge of fumes from a volcano, or the ominous (i.e. threateningly inauspicious) upsurge of a tsunami, are the outcomes of the endless operation of fundamental physical–chemical laws. Modern science contends that physical laws and principles operate inexorably (i.e operate in a way that is impossible to stop). Science contends that the laws operated blindly as it were, not at the direction of a ‘super-mind’ or a ‘willful cosmic puppeteer’, but because they are there.
Science is a Quest - to unravel the secrets of the universe
Science is a Quest - to unravel the secrets of the universe
Science thinks that the human mind has the capacity to unravel and comprehend the laws of the physical world. It is true that the universe is extraordinarily complex and unimaginably infinite in its scope and variety, but science contends that it is not impossible for our finite minds to grasp all the variety and complexity.
“But how can the finite grasp infinity?” - by Poet John Dryden
“But how can the finite grasp infinity?” - by Poet John Dryden
The universe is infinite in its complexity. Through mathematics we have been able to understand many subtle features of the physical world, but there are also entities and phenomena which we do not yet fully understand. (e.g. origin of consciousness, the generation of thoughts, human fortunes, ultimate human destiny etc). These are interesting and important questions as well!
Many scientists grant that the goal of complete explanation of everything will not be achieved from the efforts of a few, or even of a great number of dedicated scientists in the near future, but they share the hope that the scientific quest will continue for as long as the human species exists, and that eventually it will unravel the roots of even deeply felt experiences, values and ethical principles.
The human mind does not yet know all the secrets of the universe, but eventually it will. Science believes that these and everything present in the phenomenal world will someday be resolved through the scientific quest. This is a conviction that enables science to continue its quest ‘tirelessly’.
Doing Science means being able to 'explain'
Doing Science means being able to 'explain'
The essential element in the scientific framework, is that everything can be reduced to physical laws and principles. A world without laws and principles – if it were to exist – can at best be described, but never accounted for. Explanation IMPLIES the existence of rules, order, patterns. Explanation is ultimately description in terms of underlying laws and principles to account for what is observed. As per current science, a world whose elements behave in utterly lawless ways is impossible. Without the assumption that there are underlying laws in the observed world, there cannot be any science.
Yet there are things which you can 'describe' but not 'explain'
Yet there are things which you can 'describe' but not 'explain'
The world does not become less important or less interesting when one recognizes them through other modes. There are aspects of the human world that do not seem to result from well defined laws. Thus love, truth, and compassion are no less significant when they are not explained scientifically, and not any more if and when they are. Whether it is the magnificent sunset or the colorful rainbow, a fragrant flower or a majestic mountain, glorious music or interpersonal love, one can experience and enjoy these without explaining them. Science is just one way of knowing about the world. It tries to understand and explain every aspect of the perceived physical universe by adopting the scientific methodology. The ultimate goal of science is to “explain” in coherent, consistent, and causal terms every aspect of the perceived world.
"But the assumption that everything can be reduced to physical laws and principles could be wrong"
"But the assumption that everything can be reduced to physical laws and principles could be wrong"
Non-scientists sometimes insist that scientific knowledge is not absolute, because it is based on these assumptions which may not be necessarily true. To this the scientific enterprise might reply that others are welcome to acquire knowledge on the basis of other assumptions and methodologies, and if they find such knowledge satisfying let it be so. This means that we must distinguish between aspects of the world that can be systematically and cogently explained on the basis of physical laws and principles, and those that cannot be so done. It is this latter possibility that gives rise to creativity and new elements in the universe.
But it would be unreasonable to demand that knowledge acquired by adopting a different methodology (a different set of assumptions) should be accepted as scientific!
But it would be unreasonable to demand that knowledge acquired by adopting a different methodology (a different set of assumptions) should be accepted as scientific!
Why science makes some people uncomfortable?
Why science makes some people uncomfortable?
There is a tension between science and society. Scientific advances in many fields are beginning to encroach on issues of core human values. E.g. What neuro-scientists learn about the biological bases of the mind has implications for our definition of the soul and our idea of personal responsibility. Those kinds of issues sometimes conflict with people's long-held beliefs about the world that are based on ethics or religion. As science gets closer to our core questions about the nature of life—for example, in embryonic stem cell research—it makes people more and more uncomfortable. Is one uncomfortable about genetically modified foods? Is one uncomfortable about nanotechnology? Science raises moral and practical issues everywhere, and it always will.
Science is a serious game, played according to certain internationally accepted, but not always explicitly articulated, rules. If one wishes to play the game, one must adhere to the rules.
Science is a serious game, played according to certain internationally accepted, but not always explicitly articulated, rules. If one wishes to play the game, one must adhere to the rules.
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