Science and the Scientific Method
As I continued through school and then to University, I was introduced to what is called the Scientific Method which is a more rigorous and systematic way of prodding things to see what happens and coming up with explanations of why.
As well as making observations and trying experiments of our own, we learn from the observations, experiments and mistakes of others. Life is too short to do it all for ourselves and this sharing of knowledge greatly increases what we are able to know.
In other words, we rely on trusted authority and testimony, whether from teachers, peers or the writings of others. Our search expands from direct investigation of what we see to discerning which authorities can be trusted and why.
In comparatively recent times and particularly since the Enlightenment (17th century), this method has been spectacularly successful in accelerating the process of making models of (reverse engineering) the Universe.
The method consists of 6 steps:
- Ask a question
- See if others have already found an answer
- If not then think of a possible answer which fits what we see.
- Do some more experiments (prodding) and see if the result fits our possible answer
- If it does, then take the explanation as true until any other observations indicate otherwise.If it doesn’t then have another go. Go back to step 2 or even step 1.
- Share with others by publishing the results.
By this means we can get more accurate and far ranging models of the world and the sum total of human knowledge increases. We find out more about the expanses of space, about the nature of sub-atomic particles and even about the way our brains work.
How far can this process take us?
The results of science and our ability to control Nature is all around us and it is tempting to think that, given time, we will eventually be able to find out absolutely all there is about Life, the Universe and Everything.
The reality is, however, is that there are severe limits on what science can tell us. Regardless of the sophistication of the experiments or the amount of equipment used, the scientific method is still a way of prodding things to see what happens and coming up with models which will allow us to make predictions.
We still do not find out anything about the nature of reality, only what happens under certain conditions.
As with the curiosity of a child, scientific investigation starts from where we are and moves inwards and outwards, forwards and backwards from there. Our starting point is not our choice and as the scope of our investigation widens, we never reach the end. There are always more questions to be answered.
As Abraham Kaplan says:
“Nowhere in science do we start from scratch. There is only one place where we can start…that is from where we are…Science is no miraculous creation out of nothing, no spontaneous generation of knowledge from ignorance. ”
The philosopher Susan Haack compares science to solving a crossword puzzle, in which vertical and horizontal answers intersect and strengthen one another. Naturally, if you want to solve such a puzzle, you have to start somewhere. That doesn’t mean your first answer will be the “foundation” of all the others. In fact, you can start anywhere. However, as we move outwards from our starting point we find we never find an outer boundary.
It can also be compared with exploring the Earth. We have to start from where we are and move outwards. The difference is that in the case of the Earth, given enough time, we could explore it all, when it comes to reality as a whole, there is always something new beyond.