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Philosophy of Science, Practice of Science

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Philosophy of Science, Practice of Science:
“It is often said that knowledge is power, but it might be more correct to say that [critical]
thinking is power.”
(Stuart Sim Empires of Belief, Why We Need More Scepticism and Doubt in the
Twenty-First Century 2006 ebook pg. 162)
First, you know, a new theory is attacked as absurd; then it is admitted to be true, but
obvious and insignificant; finally, it is seen to be so important that its adversaries
claim that they themselves have discovered it. William James, Pragmatism
"...There will be well-testable theories, hardly testable theories, and non-testable theories.
Those which are non-testable are of no interest to empirical scientists. They may be
described as metaphysical."
(Popper, Karl, Conjectures and Refutations (New York: Basic Books, 1963), p. 257.)
"A hypothesis is empirical or scientific only if it can be tested by experience. A
hypothesis or theory which cannot be, at least in principle, falsified by empirical
observations and experiments does not belong to the realm of science."
(Francisco J. Ayala, "Biological Evolution: Natural Selection or Random Walk?,"
American Scientist, Vol. 62, November-December 1974, p. 700)
"What gambler would be crazy enough to play roulette with random evolution? The
probability of dust carried by the wind reproducing Durer's 'Melancholia' is less
infinitesimal than the probability of copy errors in the DNA molecule leading to the
formation of the eye; besides, these errors had no relationship whatsoever with the
function that the eye would have to perform or was starting to perform. There is no law
against daydreaming, but science must not indulge in it."
(French zoologist Pierre-Paul Grasse in _Evolution of Living Organisms_ (New York:
Academic Press, 1977), 104)
"Multiple hypotheses should be proposed whenever possible. Proposing alternative
explanations that can answer a question is good science. If we operate with a single
hypothesis, especially one we favor, we may direct our investigation toward a hunt for
evidence in support of this hypothesis."
(Campbell N.A., Reece J.B. & Mitchell L.G., "Biology," [1987], Benjamin/Cummings:
Menlo Park CA, Fifth Edition, 1999, p.14)
"There are obvious the difficulties in discussing unique events that happened a long time
ago. How can we ever know that our suggested explanations are correct? After all,
historians cannot agree about the causes of the Second World War. We accept that
certainty is impossible, but there are several reasons why we think the enterprise is worth
while. First, we have one grat advantage over historians: we have agreed theories both of
chemistry and of the mechanism of evolutionary change. We can therefore insist that our
explanations be plausible both chemically, and in terms of natural selection. This places a
severe constraint on possible theories. Indeed, the difficulty often lies, not in choosing

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between rival theories, but in finding a theory that is chemically and selectively plausible.
Further, theories are often testable by looking at existing organisms."
(John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry, The Major Transitions in Evolution, New
York: W. H. Freeman and Company, 1995)
"Certainly science has moved forward. But when science progresses, it often opens vaster
mysteries to our gaze. Moreover, science frequently discovers that it must abandon or
modify what it once believed. Sometimes it ends by accepting what it has previously
scorned."
(Eiseley, Loren C., [Professor of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania], "The
Firmament of Time," The Scientific Book Club: London, 1960, p.5)
"A scientist commonly professes to base his beliefs on observations, not theories.
Theories, it is said, are useful in suggesting new ideas and new lines of investigation for
the experimenter; but "hard facts" are the only proper ground for conclusion. I have never
come across anyone who carries this profession into practice--certainly not the hard-
headed experimentalist, who is the more swayed by his theories because he is less
accustomed to scrutinise them. Observation is not sufficient. We do not believe our eyes
unless we are first convinced that what they appear to tell us is credible. It is better to
admit frankly that theory has, and is entitled to have, an important share in determining
belief."
(Eddington A., "The Expanding Universe," Penguin: Harmondsworth, Middlesex UK,
1940, p.25)
"Medawar admonishes the young to formulate hypotheses but not to identify with them.
'The intensity of a conviction that a hypothesis is true has no bearing on whether it is true
or false'. Voltaire put it more strongly: 'In fact, no opinion should be held with fervour.
No one holds with fervour that 7 x 8 = 56 because it can be shown to be the case. Fervour
is only necessary in commending an opinion which is doubtful or demonstrably false'. I
am told that when anybody contradicted Einstein, he thought it over, and if he was found
wrong he was delighted, because he felt that he had escaped an error."
(Max Perutz, "Is Science Necessary?" (p.196), in a review he wrote of Peter Medawar's
book "Advice to a Young Scientist")
"The scientific establishment bears a grisly resemblance to the Spanish Inquisition. Either
you accept the rules and attitudes and beliefs promulgated by the 'papacy' (for which
read, perhaps, the Royal Society or the Royal College of Physicians), or face a dreadful
retribution. We will not actually burn you at the stake, because that sanction, unhappily,
is now no longer available under our milksop laws. But we will make damned sure that
you are a dead duck in our trade."
(Gould, Donald [former editor of New Scientist], "Letting poetry loose in the laboratory,"
New Scientist, 29 August 1992, p.51)
"There must be no barriers for freedom of inquiry. There is no place for dogma in
science. The scientist is free, and must be free to ask any question, to doubt any assertion,
to seek for any evidence, to correct any errors."

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Philosophy of Science, Practice of Science: “It is often said that knowledge is power, but it might be more correct to say that [critical] thinking is power.” (Stuart Sim – Empires of Belief, Why We Need More Scepticism and Doubt in the Twenty-First Century 2006 ebook pg. 162) First, you know, a new theory is attacked as absurd; then it is admitted to be true, but obvious and insignificant; finally, it is seen to be so important that its adversaries claim that they themselves have discovered it. William James, Pragmatism "...There will be well-testable theories, hardly testable theories, and non-testable theories. Those which are non-testable are of no interest to empirical scientists. They may be described as metaphysical." (Popper, Karl, Conjectures and Refutations (New York: Basic Books, 1963), p. 257.) "A hypothesis is empirical or scientific only if it can be tested by experience. A hypothesis or theory which cannot be, at least in principle, falsified by empirical observations and experiments does not belong to the realm of science." (Francisco J. Ayala, "Biological Evolution: Natural Selection or Random Walk?," American Scientist, Vol. 62, November-December 1974, p. 700) "What gambler would be crazy enough to play roulette with random evolution? The probability of dust carried by the wind reproducing Durer's 'Melancholia' is less infinitesimal than the probability of copy errors in the DNA molecule leading to the formation of the eye; besides, these er ...
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