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The Logic of Science
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About The Logic of Science
We live in a fantastic world with countless technological marvels that were all brought to us courtesy of modern science, and we understand more about our universe than people 100 years ago could ever have imagined. Nevertheless, there is a growing anti-science movement that is plaguing out planet and threatens to halt or even reverse scientific advancement. An increasing number of mostly well intentioned people have launched an all out war against virtually every field of science. Anti-GMO advocates are attempting to halt genetics research. Climate change deniers are assaulting the entire field of climatology and spreading dangerous conspiracy theories and misconceptions. Anti-vaccers, homeopaths, alternative medicine practitioners, people who deny AIDs, and many others are all seeking to discredit the medical advances that have saved billions of lives, and, finally, we have young earth creationists whose arguments are so insidious that they pervade and seek to destroy biology, geology, physics, and chemistry. When I read the arguments of these groups, however, I do not find rational arguments that are grounded in facts. Rather, I find logical fallacies, conspiracy theorist musings, anecdotes, fear mongering, and a complete denial of the value of scientific research.
It would be easy to write these groups off as nothing more than a collection of idiots, but their numbers are large enough that they must be taken seriously. Further, in most cases I don’t think it is a matter of intelligence. In other words, I don’t think that most of the people in this anti-science movement are inherently unintelligent. Rather, I think that they have been misinformed and misguided. When I look closely at anti-science arguments, I generally find that they stem from a fundamental lack of scientific understanding and a poor knowledge of the rules of logic. Therefore, the point of this blog is to explain how science works and why we are so certain of the results it gives us. It is my intention to join the battle for the minds of the public, and to attempt to persuade my readers to rely on logic and carefully controlled scientific studies rather than fear tactics, misinformation, and anecdotes.
I ask only one thing of those who read my blog: that you accept the possibility that you might be wrong. The healthiest thing that anyone can do is to acknowledge that they might be mistaken, then go from that admission to a careful consideration of the facts. So I encourage everyone to lay aside your biases, apply the rules of logic, and carefully consider the issues at hand.
For the most part, it is my intention simply to inform people about science. Nevertheless, people often drag religion into debates that should be inherently scientific. Therefore, I will attempt to deal with some theological arguments as well (especially creationists’ claims that evolution and the Bible are inherently at odds). These posts will be geared specifically towards Christians who view science and the Bible as being incompatible, and it is my intention simply to show that the Bible and science do not have to conflict with each other. In order to do this, I will start with the assumption that Christians are correct and the Bible is divinely inspired truth. I will then attempt to show that even with that premise in place, it is entirely possible to accept scientific facts, including the facts supporting the theory of evolution.
It would be easy to write these groups off as nothing more than a collection of idiots, but their numbers are large enough that they must be taken seriously. Further, in most cases I don’t think it is a matter of intelligence. In other words, I don’t think that most of the people in this anti-science movement are inherently unintelligent. Rather, I think that they have been misinformed and misguided. When I look closely at anti-science arguments, I generally find that they stem from a fundamental lack of scientific understanding and a poor knowledge of the rules of logic. Therefore, the point of this blog is to explain how science works and why we are so certain of the results it gives us. It is my intention to join the battle for the minds of the public, and to attempt to persuade my readers to rely on logic and carefully controlled scientific studies rather than fear tactics, misinformation, and anecdotes.
I ask only one thing of those who read my blog: that you accept the possibility that you might be wrong. The healthiest thing that anyone can do is to acknowledge that they might be mistaken, then go from that admission to a careful consideration of the facts. So I encourage everyone to lay aside your biases, apply the rules of logic, and carefully consider the issues at hand.
For the most part, it is my intention simply to inform people about science. Nevertheless, people often drag religion into debates that should be inherently scientific. Therefore, I will attempt to deal with some theological arguments as well (especially creationists’ claims that evolution and the Bible are inherently at odds). These posts will be geared specifically towards Christians who view science and the Bible as being incompatible, and it is my intention simply to show that the Bible and science do not have to conflict with each other. In order to do this, I will start with the assumption that Christians are correct and the Bible is divinely inspired truth. I will then attempt to show that even with that premise in place, it is entirely possible to accept scientific facts, including the facts supporting the theory of evolution.
