Re: "Science is about exploration not about consensus."

In reply to Jerry Chandler: I repeat: The role of science is to
explore not to seek consensus.

In Popper's terms, it's called fallibility. In other terms it's called
the inductive method, an activity that sets up a probable rather than
a necessary conclusion, i.e., it permits non-normative actions to
exist and even, to develop. To operate only within a deductive method
is to promote dogma. In other terms, it's called the acceptance of
doubt - Abelard's heresy of 'dubito', and furthermore, a doubt that
is not individual (as it was with Descartes) but operative within the
cosmos. In other terms, it's called an acceptance of freedom. And, an
acceptance of evolution; an evolution that is continuous rather than
finite.
No- I don't accept that the material world is 'out there', in a finite
mode, having finished evolution, and our lack of knowledge of it is
due merely to our ignorance and that we will eventually, finish our
explorations and all shed our ignorance and reach a consensus.

I do feel that we, as a community, think within habits, within
normative and community-based modes of belief. That is, there will be,
for a time, various modes of consensus among the community. A variety
of modes of consensus; I've never seen a universal consensus and would
consider such a mindset quite dangerous in its fundamentalism. These
various habits-of-thought must be pragmatic; they must really
represent the external world rather than mystify it. But, these same
habits can never be final; they must be open to critique and further
exploration. Our habits-of-cognition, our axioms, are partly
determined by our old habits (our consented-to beliefs) and partly by
our new experiences...as our cosmos evolves. If we close our minds to
new experiences and new hypotheses, then, we are living, albeit
happily, in Plato's Cave.

Oh- and that's valid for 'subscribers to this list who are:
..scientists and non-scientists. Thought processes aren't different
within the disciplines.

Edwina Taborsky
39 Jarvis St. #318
Toronto, Ontario M5E 1Z5
(416) 361.0898

----- Original Message -----
From: jlrchand@erols.com <jlrchand@pop.mail.rcn.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list FIS <fis@listas.unizar.es>
Sent: Wednesday, December 19, 2001 1:41 PM
Subject: "Science is about exploration not about consensus."

>
> Edwinia writes:
>
> > Science is about
> >exploration not about consensus.
>
> For subscribers to this list who are scientists, I ask that you
> consider what this philosophy entails for your understanding of
> science and the structures of science which have emerged from the
> capacity of scientists to reach consensus.
>
> For example:
>
> What are the roles for reproducibility in scientific
experimentation?
> What role does consistency play in the analysis of natural systems?
> How do scientists create harmony between analysis and synthesis?
> What are the roles of mathematics in describing and predicting the
> behavior of complex systems?
>
> Cheers
>
> Jerry LR Chandler
>
>
>
Received on Wed Dec 19 20:38:02 2001