that's the popular conception of science
Heh. Do you mean that's a conception of science held by not-too-smart uneducated people? X-)
an oracle that proves reality true or false
Sense make not. Reality is always true.
Speaking generally, you seem to treat science as people asserting certain things and so, to decide on how much to trust them, you need to know how calibrated those people are. That seems very different from my perception of science which is based on people saying "This is so, you can test it yourself if you want".
Under your approach, the goal is achieving consensus. Under my system, the goal is to provide replicability and show that it actually works.
Data does not depend on calibration of particular people.
This is so, you can test it yourself if you want Under your approach, the goal is achieving consensus. Under my system, the goal is to provide replicability and show that it actually works.
I think we have to separate two ideas here.
There's the data you get from an experiment
There's the conclusions you can draw from that data.
I would agree that the data does not depend on the calibration of particular people. But the conclusions you get from that data DO need to be calibrated. Furthermore, other scientists may want to do experiments based on t...
Cross-posted from my blog here.
One of the greatest successes of mankind over the last few centuries has been the enormous amount of wealth that has been created. Once upon a time virtually everyone lived in grinding poverty; now, thanks to the forces of science, capitalism and total factor productivity, we produce enough to support a much larger population at a much higher standard of living.
EAs being a highly intellectual lot, our preferred form of ritual celebration is charts. The ordained chart for celebrating this triumph of our people is the Declining Share of People Living in Extreme Poverty Chart.
(Source)
However, as a heretic, I think this chart is a mistake. What is so great about reducing the share? We could achieve that by killing all the poor people, but that would not be a good thing! Life is good, and poverty is not death; it is simply better for it to be rich.
As such, I think this is a much better chart. Here we show the world population. Those in extreme poverty are in purple – not red, for their existence is not bad. Those who the wheels of progress have lifted into wealth unbeknownst to our ancestors, on the other hand, are depicted in blue, rising triumphantly.
Long may their rise continue.