You must log in or register to comment.
Not all questions are created equal and not all questioning of science is scientific in nature. And if you’re not writing down results and using controls, your questions aren’t really coming from a place of scientific intrigue in the first place.
True.
But being a child saying “but why?” until your parent flips their wig isn’t.
Why not?
But why?
Since I’m old and a lot of you aren’t I’ll explain the reference.
Mindy’s defining traits seem to be her curiosity and her obliviousness. Mindy likes to chase things that interest or intrigue her, and though she usually has a single-minded focus on her target, she will sometimes stop her chase to question passersby about what they are doing– one repeated joke is that she will ask people “Why?” until they give up on the conversation; usually this takes about three "why"s, and she will end the conversation with her customary “Okay, I love ya, buh-bye!”
I had completely forgotten about Animaniacs. Now I’ve got something to look up on the telly - cheers!
Ahem, no. Science is a method to find answers with some metholody behind it. Not just any random questions and everything is the same.
(So yes, questioning science is good practice and a big part of a scientists job… Yet, you need to follow the scientific method if you do it, or you’re just making (wrong) stuff up.)
Pedant patrol reporting in: one type of questioning science is science
Questioning it before you understand the body of work of your predecessors isn’t science.
Especially if you turn towards the less educated to sell your pseudo-science.
It’s only science if you’re willing to accept the conclusion the observations lead you to even if they prove your idea wrong, because the point of science is to learn and gain understanding, and that is done by being wrong about things and investigating to find the correct answer.
It’s no longer science if you’re not willing to accept the conclusions because they prove your idea false, which ultimately is the problem that happens with science deniers, they are unwilling to accept being wrong.
Yeah, as long as you have the qualifications to question said science. This meme is what conspirationists believe.
Questioning science in that you are questioning the idea of taking observations and testing hypothesis? Then no.
I’m not a fan of the phrase “trust the science” without any further explanation. Like okay we obviously don’t know everything in your field but if you know enough you should at least be able to explain it like we’re 5. Otherwise it’s just “trust me bro, you’re too dumb to understand” and that’s not good for anyone.
Aside from a very loud, very small minority, most people are willing to learn and understand, but won’t follow blindly.
If they explain it like your 5, it’s just a longer way of saying trust the science… if you go and verify experiments, recreating them and do all the maths, then you would also just be trusting the science…
I am not willing to study biology and zoology, but I will read scientific research published in reputable journals or newspaper articles based on those studies, especially if it’s about pandas!
There’s a reason why science communicators exist and most times they’re not the ones doing the science. If you’re asking the actual scientists there’s a good chance they’re better off just saying “Trust me, I understand that better than you do” instead of trying to dumb things down to a layman’s level.
Not all things can easily be explained to the general public. Scientists have spent years of training to get where they are, and even then they’re only trained to communicate with peers in their field.
Not every short quippy explanation is correct…
That’s half the problem we face - people equate simplicity with absolute correctness or they internalize things as universal when something is drowning in nuance and situationality. Half of how science has changed in the last half century is a change from trying to understand perfect absolutes to getting down and dirty and figuring out and embracing spectrums and variations. The desire for simplicity does not serve. The catch all explanation is at best a placeholder that is incorrect but better than nothing and at worst it’s a siren song that leads you to damn yourself into believing a very untrue picture of the world.
Questions are of far less value than quality experiments with good documentation.
Question is one of the first steps in the scientific process.
What the fuck you gonna study/experiment on without asking a question first?
It needs to be paired with quality experiments, and when that data shows consistent results, those results should be accepted. Asking things like “is the Earth flat” or “does the Covid vaccine kill people” without accepting the wealth of data that’s already out there is of little value.
Anything at all under an authoritarian regime.
Questioning the science that generated the science is science. See also: recursion.
That’s just true, not a real shock
Im listening to this podcast “History of philosophy without any gaps” and in various points in History a group of people starts arguing against philosophy, but you can’t really argue that philosophy is dangerous or useless, without seeing yourself doing philosophy for that.
Question reality 🫠
