>> Hence, people who claim that scientists agree because of some reason other >> than looking at the instruments and using their best theories to interpret >> the readings - e.g. people who claim that they agree for some psychological >> reason, e.g. because they all adhere to some "paradigm" - are talking >> bollocks.
I still don't understand what you're getting at Liz. What 'psychological paradigm' is who claiming scientists agree because of? I mean I don't particularly like the suggestion that scientists are in some sense superhuman and impervious to the flaws the rest of us mortals succumb to, but we'ld just fly off on another tangent if we discussed that. my point is just that 'agree with this because lots of scientists say so' isn't a terribly convincing argument, yet its one I see lots of climate acceptors promote. Relativity isn't a good theory because Einstein said it was. Nor is it a good theory because a bunch of Einsteins say it is. How many science lessons start like: 'Right children, please shut your text books. Now lots of people agree with relativity so you should too. Now on evolution, lots of scientists think we evolved via natural selection, so you should too. Good. that about wraps it up for your science class this week. Lets move on to home economics...' Im actually stunned this is under debate. Date: Tue, 8 Apr 2014 12:14:29 +1200 Subject: Re: If you can't disprove the science, you can always try suing From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sorry when I said "you" I didn't mean you specifically, I meant generically - "one" would have been better. I shall try to paraphrase myself in an attempt to better express what I was trying to say. Hence, people who claim that scientists agree because of some reason other than looking at the instruments and using their best theories to interpret the readings - e.g. people who claim that they agree for some psychological reason, e.g. because they all adhere to some "paradigm" - are talking bollocks. On 7 April 2014 14:56, chris peck <[email protected]> wrote: >> They agree because the equipment they used produced a signal they >> interpreted using their best available theories as indicating the existence >> of the Higgs. Right I see. So the physicists at cern don't count the number of people who are in agreement, they actually do look at equipment now and again. Thats a relief because Brent had me worried that they didn't think they had to do much of that. >> Hence if you're interested in why they agree, you have to take into account >> how the experiment works, how the confidence levels were assessed, and so >> on. It's no good just saying "I'm only interested in why they agree" as >> though you're privy to some extraordinary psychological insight, because >> that's just wilfully ignoring the real facts of the matter. eh? >> Otherwise you're just like the postmodernists who used to claim that "all >> views are equivalent" but still preferred to fly to conferences by jet >> rather than broomstick for reasons they could never quite explain (well, not >> without showing themselves up to be pompous idiots, which I guess - dipping >> my toes into the world of extraordinary psychological insight myself for a >> moment - they wanted to avoid). Im sure you know what you're talking about but I haven't got a clue. Date: Mon, 7 Apr 2014 14:47:42 +1200 Subject: Re: If you can't disprove the science, you can always try suing From: [email protected] To: [email protected] On 7 April 2014 14:32, chris peck <[email protected]> wrote: >> So does the agreement of physicists at CERN tell you nothing about whether >> the Higgs boson exists? It tells me absolutely nothing. Im interested in why they agree not that they agree. They agree because the equipment they used produced a signal they interpreted using their best available theories as indicating the existence of the Higgs. Hence if you're interested in why they agree, you have to take into account how the experiment works, how the confidence levels were assessed, and so on. It's no good just saying "I'm only interested in why they agree" as though you're privy to some extraordinary psychological insight, because that's just wilfully ignoring the real facts of the matter. Otherwise you're just like the postmodernists who used to claim that "all views are equivalent" but still preferred to fly to conferences by jet rather than broomstick for reasons they could never quite explain (well, not without showing themselves up to be pompous idiots, which I guess - dipping my toes into the world of extraordinary psychological insight myself for a moment - they wanted to avoid). -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
