sciences in general, what they are and their methods
We’ve heard of evidence-based medicine and science in which test data are the standard of comparison. But what about testimony-based science? This means testimony is the standard of comparison, as is done in courts of law. A prosecutor cannot just put objects or data in front of a jury. There must be a witness who introduces […]
“Secularity” is often distinguised as “what is secular” compared with “secularism” which means the promotion or the expansion of secularity. The problem is not what is secular but an expansive meaning to what is secular. Historically, “secular” meant of an age or of this world (as opposed to the age or world to come) or civil or
A quarter note in music is classically known as a quaver. A sixteenth note is half of a quaver, which is called a semiquaver. For a thirty-second note the prefix “demi” is used instead of a second “semi” to make a demisemiquaver. Similarly, a sixty-fourth note is a hemidemisemiquaver. As we shall see, these prefixes
Data-driven (DD) science is focused on the collection and use of a diverse archive of observations. Data analysis discovers generalizations in the archive, which are inductively extrapolated to the world. This leads to a search for empirical consequences and their corroborating (or not) data via field observations and experiments. New results are added to the archive
Some creationists emphasize the difference in religious/metaphysical assumptions of creationism vs. evolutionism as if this explains almost all their differences. But if that were true, creationists should focus on defending their religious/metaphysical assumptions instead of criticizing evolution. Since they do spend much time criticizing evolution, they are at least implicitly saying they have enough in common with
For Lakatos, what we think of as a ‘theory’ may actually be a succession of slightly different theories and experimental techniques developed over time, that share some common idea, or what Lakatos called their ‘hard core’. Lakatos called such changing collections ‘Research Programmes’. (1) Here is a description of three research programmes concerned mainly with
Nowadays there is increasing concern for a dialogue between science and “religion” – which usually means Christian religion. The implications of science for religion are discussed in serious tones and tomes. But if there is genuine dialogue, then the implications of religion for science should also be considered. However, there is a problem at this
