Eugene+quick+stab+at+science

What is //this// science? Science is rooted deeply in man’s innate curiosity. Inside all of us, there is an instinctive thirst of understanding our surroundings. As people, we like to know. We demand answers, order, and explanations. So why do we need science and why is it such an essential part of our existence? In its simplest and purest form, science is an algorithm for problem solving. It is weaved so tightly into our makeup that we utilize science habitually. It starts with the straightforward process of trial and error, experimenting naively with everything we can get our hands on. “Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure Science.” (Edwin Powell Hubble, The Nature of Science, 1954) As newborns, we play carelessly and learn from our mistakes. In essence, science lies at the foundation of learning. We know not to touch a hot stove because we have tested it and it has delivered unfavorable results. But knowing what we cannot do is not enough. We enjoy challenging ourselves and pushing our limits to see what is humanly possible. Thus, science enables us to overcome obstacles and eventually self-actualize. We put our capabilities to the test and thrive on the hurdles we have already conquered. For the individual, science comes about for practical reasons. It isn’t enough for us, though, that science exists as a tool for exploration. We want science to directly improve our life and make our day to day lives easier. Learning to physically use science, we stumble into the field of technology. In a pragmatic sense, yes technology is basically science. We make new scientific discoveries and then manipulate that knowledge into something material that we can use. The two are knit so tightly that we cannot speak of one without the other. Simply knowing is never enough if we cannot apply that knowledge to something else. Furthermore a better understanding of how the world ticks will make our stay here more pleasant. If we learn how gravity and aerodynamics work, then we can learn to defy gravity and fly through the air. Society has always taken advantage of science in that it opens doors to new technology. Science started that way, but at the same time, with technology as the manifestation of the application of science, the science aspect has branched off and steered towards more abstract understanding. It has evolved to become an understanding of the underpinnings of everything that happens. To really know science will be to have conquered a conceptual law of the universe. I believe, however, this brings us back our original quest for understanding. We appreciate order, systematicity and control. If we can know generalizations and draw connections from seemingly unrelated occurrences, we will have more power and control in this world. Now we also see a different form of science permeating through societies. At the birth of civilization and culture, science too evolved, and what came out was a different animal. This science is now scientific knowledge. It is the culmination of the experience and education of every man who has ever lived. This was first carried out by the Church, wanting to formally tabulate every piece of empirical data considered by them to be significant. In a way it was a spectacular idea to have a reservoir of knowledge in which later works in the name of science could build upon. It eliminated the need for redoing experiments and redundancy in innovation. Therefore it was the first time science could progress and build on itself without having to be repeatedly rediscovered. The only problem now is to accept that the knowledge before us is right in order to move ahead. This presents the idea of trust into a system of rigid facts. We rather not think that our only key to truth (namely science) is made up of nothing concrete. In dissecting science, we find that it is really a compilation of assertions backed up by other statements. And every statement itself is based upon observations before that. Fundamentally, science is established on the principle that everything in the universe can be explained. How do we know that this is intrinsically true? We cannot. We can only make assumptions and we must accept these as certain before moving on. If that is the foundation of science then where does it lead us? We hear science is progressing or that we have made considerable progress in science, but where are we headed to as a society. Though it may appear so, I believe science is not a journey towards universal truth nor is it a way to capture all knowledge that exists. Logically science cannot and will not uncover the secrets to the universe. What science is then is a working knowledge of the world now. It is analogous to the process of evolution. Will evolution ever create an optimal organism? No. It can only take the available genes and “select” those best suited for the environment. Thus, science can only take what we know and “select” the most plausible explanations to describe our world. When we discover something new that doesn’t fit our known explanations we will just amend science. It will never reach a level of omniscient nor does it have to. What we call science works for us and we can do everything we need to with it. For that matter, science is not about being undoubtedly right but to be adaptive to our changing lifestyles.