Kind of like how the Watchtower is always changing its mind with New Light?
"You can't believe anything science says, they're always changing their minds.."
by disposable hero of hypocrisy 30 Replies latest jw friends
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Island Man
Disposable, that statement is so something that an elder I know would say. LOL.
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prologos
science is all about posing better questions, all the time, opening the curtains to the unknow.
"There is nothing new under the sun", or above it, but it has to be discovered.
trust science to do it, not revelation.
it will be revealing though.
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disposable hero of hypocrisy
Thanks everyone!
It's true, witnesses accept all of science, even using it and quoting it to back up their world views, RIGHT UP TO where science disagrees with them. Then it's hogwash and unreliable.
I need to know about the scientific process myself so that I can explain it clearly, and show the difference between real science and newspaper articles claiming that butter is now bad for you unless it's smeared on your door post so the demunz don't get you...
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Caedes
You would have to go quite a long way back in time to find a scientific theory being completely overturned. Usually science is modified rather than overturned. But the thing is that the ability of science to self correct is one of the good things about science. If you think that you can prove a scientific theory is wrong all you have to do is show sufficient evidence to prove your case to your peers.
It is important to distinguish between 'hard' science and the 'softer' sciences, one of the examples given was healthy foodstuffs. Anyone can call themselves a 'nutritionist' and hence these 'nutritionists' can make any sort of claim and not have to back it up with evidence.
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M*A*S*H
Anyone calling themselves a scientist can publish an article or book or whatever stating their findings/beliefs
It is true anyone "calling themselves a scientist" could "publish and article or book" just in the same way I could produce 'Dr Mash's guide to open heart surgery' and pay to have it published in all good book stores... however this is not what is meant by 'publishing' in the scientific sense.
To have your scientific papers published means that you have submitted your work to an established respected journal for consideration, it is then peer reviewed and if accepted will be published. This does not then mean your paper is accepted fully by the scientific community, really it means lots more of your peers will read the paper and potentially test your hypothesis further. Here is some information on peer review from Science.. http://www.sciencemag.org/site/feature/contribinfo/RAinstr13.pdf
Usually papers are written by Doctors in their field although technically anyone could submit a paper for review.
This knowledge is what motivates some creationists to (a) get a doctorate from a diploma mill university and (b) create pseudo scientific journals in which to publish their 'science'.
For an example see here http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Answers_Research_Journal
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prologos
MASH, yes, there is the Scientific establishment with it's many specialties, and their progress can be trusted. There are exception though, where outsiders amateurs have contributed radical and far reaching changes.
In total it is because of this process of validation that science can be trusted.
wt brings this argument of research and trust forward to give some weight to their new-light process. trouble is, the longer they go on the more ridicolous it gets.
we can work with science, technology, but
you believe anything that wt says at your own risk and peril.
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DATA-DOG
There is a great article ( hilarious ) by the WTBTS where they try to compare their nu-light to the scientific method. I would go with DOC's method. Print out all the "generation" changes and have it available. Then share this:
DD
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Oubliette
- In science it often happens that scientists say, "You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken," and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion. - Carl Sagan, Keynote address at CSICOP conference (1987), as quoted in Do Science and the Bible Conflict? (2003) by Judson Poling, p. 30
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Oubliette
I've had it said to me before, specifically about health, one week wine/eggs/milk/axle grease is good for you, next week it's not.
Those kinds of statements are generally found in women's magazines at the supermarket, not scientific journals.
Some journalist cherry-picks a quote from a medical study without understanding the context or how to frame it and then it gets repeated by your ordinary, average yahoo that also doesn't know how to interpret it in any kind of context.
The goal of every one of us should be to be scientifically literate.