Why is Science Important? [Archive]

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Sylph

03-13-2009, 09:30 AM

Nice website answering the question: Why is science important? the views from different fields of science and other disciplines.
Why is science important? - A collection of thoughts from leading scientists, public figures, ...and you. (https://whyscience.co.uk/)

example:
Why science must pervade medicine
Why is science important? - Robin Weiss: science must pervade medicine (https://whyscience.co.uk/contributors/robin-weiss/robin-weiss-science-must-pervade-medicine.html)

MsTerry

03-13-2009, 09:56 PM

What would happen if they discover that 90.000 people are killed every year from visiting a hospital?
Battling Superbugs - AARP Bulletin Today (https://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/caregiving/articles/battling_superbugs_.html)

PeriodThree

03-13-2009, 11:06 PM

Without questioning that number, would more people die if no one went to the hospital?

Are you arguing that science is not important, or that science does not have all of the answers?

What would happen if they discover that 90.000 people are killed every year from visiting a hospital?
Battling Superbugs - AARP Bulletin Today (https://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/caregiving/articles/battling_superbugs_.html)

MsTerry

03-14-2009, 08:01 AM

Without questioning that number, would more people die if no one went to the hospital?

It is hard to estimate how many lives are saved at hospitals every year, but does that mean we should accept 90.000 deaths as collateral damage?
If 90.000 people died from not being vaccinated, there would be a national uproar.
Why aren't there warning signs at Hospitals telling us of the dangers of being treated there?

Are you arguing that science is not important, or that science does not have all of the answers?
We already know that science doesn't have all the answers.
But that science might actually be contributing to developing dangerous bacteria is alarming.

Braggi

03-14-2009, 10:52 AM

... We already know that science doesn't have all the answers.
But that science might actually be contributing to developing dangerous bacteria is alarming.

Alarming yes. Science does have all the answers though. All the ones we know. There are many more we don't know, but there are no answers that science hasn't discovered. Know what I mean? All the rest are questions that have not yet been answered, or more likely, not even asked yet. There's no end to science and science is always willing to learn something new and overturn beliefs that are in error, despite resistance from the "true believers" who are sometimes clad in a lab coat.

The "superbug" problem is evidence of some of science's many wrong turns. An over reliance on antibiotics and antibacterial soaps along with the national obsession with killing germs in the house and on everything we touch is largely to blame. Next, enter globalization. The other major cause.

None of that is any reason to avoid a hospital if you get injured. Treatment for chronic conditions should be handled elsewhere if possible. We send too many people to hospitals for too many reasons. The solution is to reopen neighborhood "drop in clinics." Remember those? [Edit: probably only if you're over 50. They were wonderful. Sometimes called: Free Clinics.]

I stay away from hospitals if i can. Not because they're too dirty but because they're unnaturally clean.

-Jeff

MsTerry

03-14-2009, 12:53 PM

but there are no answers that science hasn't discovered. Know what I mean?
-Jeff

No, I don't know what you mean. :hmmm:
were you trying to say; there are no Questions that science hasn't discovered?
Still don't know what you mean.
Unless you are trying to say that all of our answers come from science? Which of course is not true either.

Braggi

03-14-2009, 01:30 PM

... Unless you are trying to say that all of our answers come from science? Which of course is not true either.

It's not in the knowledge base unless it's been verified by science. Yup. That's pretty much the definition of knowledge MsTerry. Otherwise it's still a question waiting for the answer.

From why is the sky blue to what's going on when I feel something, it's either a question science has answered or is zeroing in on. Of course, most of the possible questions haven't even been asked yet, so it's a wide open field.

It's exciting, don't you think?

-Jeff

MsTerry

03-14-2009, 02:49 PM

Yeez, Jeff have you been verified by science yet?
Here is something for your knowledge base.
Experiential knowledge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experiential_knowledge)

It's not in the knowledge base unless it's been verified by science. Yup. That's pretty much the definition of knowledge MsTerry. Otherwise it's still a question waiting for the answer.

From why is the sky blue to what's going on when I feel something, it's either a question science has answered or is zeroing in on. Of course, most of the possible questions haven't even been asked yet, so it's a wide open field.

It's exciting, don't you think?

-Jeff

Braggi

03-14-2009, 03:05 PM

Yeez, Jeff have you been verified by science yet?
Here is something for your knowledge base. ...

And what would science be worth without the experience of it? OK, but even that article is pretty lame. Science can explain what the color blue is in many ways. The experience of blue?

I like to tell people my religion is informed by (or is based on) science and experience. So, of course I respect your point.

You must have been reading the "Rain" thread where I mentioned that.

-Jeff

MsTerry

03-14-2009, 04:14 PM

And what would science be worth without the experience of it? OK, but even that article is pretty lame. Science can explain what the color blue is in many ways. The experience of blue?
I like to tell people my religion is informed by (or is based on) science and experience. So, of course I respect your point.
-Jeff
The problem I have with some scientific findings is that it may not apply to me.
eg. scientist may find that Godiva chocolate with a higher cocoa %, is liked by more people than other chocolates. Therefore Godiva must be the best chocolate, right?
I don't think so, I like to use my experiential knowledge to guide me to the best tasting chocolate. Which might be See's.
Same with medicine. Something might work for a lot of people, but something else might help me better.
Science tends to take away one's personal knowledge and reasoning, only to replace it with a cookie-cutter solution.

You must have been reading the "Rain" thread where I mentioned that.
No, haven't been following that.

Hotspring 44

03-15-2009, 12:11 AM