Thursday, December 22, 2016

A questionable quote about science and truth

Neil deGrasse Tyson must know that science is belief in skepticism and skepticism applies to all accepted science as well as to any other belief. Skepticism tends to erode everything it touches. Tyson says, "Science is true whether or not you believe in it." But this is true only until skepticism and new discoveries make the science untrue, at which point it becomes non-science. Think about what that means. The history of science is replete with science becoming non-science. Past science is untrue whether or not anyone ever believed it was true.

Scientist Julia Shaw, who studies false memory, provocatively sees benefits in a post-truth society. In times when truth and facts are uncertain, the good thing is that we are giving up some of our illusions, and gaining new, hopefully better, ones. I'm a Scientist, and I Don't Believe in Facts: The benefits of a post-truth society.