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Definition of science?

#136: Feb. - Mar. 2015 (Non-Fiction)
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stahrwe

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Definition of science?

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Does anyone define what science is anywhere in this book?

If so, please tell me where, and what that definition is.
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Re: Definition of science?

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stahrwe wrote:Does anyone define what science is anywhere in this book?

If so, please tell me where, and what that definition is.
He peppers definitions throughout the book.

But here's one that might interest you:

page 305:


.
.,science requires the most vigorous and uncompromising skepticism, because the vast majority of ideas are simply wrong, and the only way to winnow the wheat from the chaff is by critical experiment and analysis. If you're open to the pointy of gullibility and have not a microgram of skeptical sense in you, then you cannot distinguish the promising ideas from the worthless ones. Uncritically accepting every proffered notion, idea, and hypothesis is tantamount to knowing nothing. Ideas contradict one another; only through skeptical scrutiny can we decide among them. Some ideas are really better than others


side bar:

The first SETI conference took place in 1961.

I guess SETI is a perpetual hypothesis that is continually renewed.
despite tehcno advances each and every hypothesis provides zero evidence.

The idea is still promising, despite still not knowing anything about intelligent alien life - 54 years later.
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stahrwe

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Re: Definition of science?

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I had read that quote but it is not a definition of science nor could I find one.

I believe the SETI project ran out of money several years ago and is currently dormant.
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Re: Definition of science?

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Its privately funded now, I believe.
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stahrwe

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Re: Definition of science?

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I thought so too, but according to their IRS form 990 for FY 2013 they received $15,000,000 in government grants. I have provided a link to their financials so my claim can be checked.

SETI INSTITUTE FINANCIALS 2013
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Re: Definition of science?

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Chapter 2
Humans may crave absolute certainty .... but the history of science .. teaches that the most we can hope for is successive improvement in our understanding ....
One of the great commandments of science is "Mistrust arguments from authority" .. Too many such arguments have proved too painfully wrong.
Wherever possible, scientists experiment. ... They do not trust what is intuitively obvious. ... The truth may be puzzling or counterintuitive. .. Experiment is how we get a handle on it.
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