Reply #21: Bad choice [View All]

[Az]

Gravity is one of the least understood aspects of science. That it exists is the most stable part of the theory. But what it is and how it works still continue to be problematic.

Let me give you another example instead.

It is a theory that the sun will come up tomorrow. It has not and can never be proven. This has to do more with our limitations than anything else. We do not know all things. Thus what we learn of the world around us will always be limited.

Like a logarithmic curve science always approaches absolute proof but never is able to reach it. It is a fundamental aspect of the philosophy. We cannot prove anything about the real world. You cannot even prove that you are not a brain in a vat being fed false sensations about the world around you (the Matrix trap).

This in no way diminishes the power of science. It is this ability to deal with the truth of our limitations that enables science to burn away falsehoods. Science works more like a sculptor than a painter. A painter attempts to create the truth. A sculptor knocks away the falsehoods and reveals the truth.

The key thing that science does is reveal what is not true. A theory proposed will be beaten to death by the peer review process. If it cannot be shown to be false then it is accepted as true... until evidence comes along that overturns it. But it cannot be proven to be true by means of science.

In science, "fact" can only mean "confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withold provisional assent". I suppose that apples may start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms. - Stephen J. Gould