korrents

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What does it mean to “trust science”?

Jason Crawford · 16 Aug 2023 · rootsofprogress.org ↗

3 korrents from this piece

Jason Crawford did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

  1. Our reading

    “Trust science” is a confused instruction: what deserves trust is the process, not any particular thing it has concluded so far.

    Their wordsEven in that case, though, what we should trust is not the particular output of the scientific process at any given time. It can make wrong turns. Instead, we should trust that it will find the truth eventually, and that it is our best and only method for doing so.
    Interesting

  2. Our reading

    There is no capital-S Science that can stand as an authority; there is only reasoning done systematically.

    Their wordsThere is no capital-S Science—a new authority to substitute for God or King.
    Interesting

  3. Our reading

    Science can identify problems but cannot by itself tell us what to do about them.

    Their wordsPhysics, chemistry and biology can point out problems, but we need history, economics and philosophy to solve them.
    Interesting