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Politics : View from the Center and Left
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To: Lane3 who wrote (101777)1/25/2009 3:01:35 PM
From: Sam  Read Replies (1) of 543310
 
No, that is bass ackwards. It is not scientific to look for evidence to support anything. If you go looking for it, you will find it but miss or discount all the evidence that contradicts it. Science studies the evidence first, then follow wherever it leads.

Well, it's more complex than that. Theories don't just "jump out" of the evidence. It requires intuition based on the evidence. Then experiments are run to confirm or deny the hypothesis. Sometimes, the experiment may be run as way to falsify a hypothesis, sometimes it is run to confirm it. An honest scientist doesn't simply try to confirm his theories. And even if he/she did, there would be plenty of others who would try to falsify it. That is the scientific ethos. Skepticism is part of the socialization process of becoming a scientist. Which is one reason why the people who claim that global warming is conspiracy among scientists are really ridiculous. Scientists were skeptical of it when it was first proposed decades ago.
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