Science a positive influence on society and politics should

[freediver]

I think that scientific enquiry, although not labelled this, has been the bases of all human progress. The observation that the sun moves it’s position through the seasons lead to us being able to predict seasons. Plans grow from seeds so if I collect seeds, I can control the place and timing of planting them. Observation followed by the formation of a theory for why these things occurred, then the theory was tested by their predictions being confirmed by what was later observed.

When these theories included a god or gods, the explanation and therefore the theory was supported by what was observed.

A good example of what what you describe is not science.

[Super Nova]

I think that scientific enquiry, although not labelled this, has been the bases of all human progress. The observation that the sun moves it’s position through the seasons lead to us being able to predict seasons. Plans grow from seeds so if I collect seeds, I can control the place and timing of planting them. Observation followed by the formation of a theory for why these things occurred, then the theory was tested by their predictions being confirmed by what was later observed.

When these theories included a god or gods, the explanation and therefore the theory was supported by what was observed.

A good example of what what you describe is not science.

The word science comes from the Latin "scientia," meaning knowledge.

How do we define science? According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, the definition of science is "knowledge attained through study or practice," or "knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, esp. as obtained and tested through scientific method [and] concerned with the physical world."

What does that really mean? Science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge. This system uses observation and experimentation to describe and explain natural phenomena. The term science also refers to the organized body of knowledge people have gained using that system. Less formally, the word science often describes any systematic field of study or the knowledge gained from it.

What is the purpose of science? Perhaps the most general description is that the purpose of science is to produce useful models of reality.

Most scientific investigations use some form of the scientific method. You can find out more about the scientific method here.

Science as defined above is sometimes called pure science to differentiate it from applied science, which is the application of research to human needs. Fields of science are commonly classified along two major lines:
- Natural sciences, the study of the natural world, and
- Social sciences, the systematic study of human behavior and society.

I don't think I agree FD. I may have bee na bit lose but "knowledge attained through study or practice" appears to apply.

[freediver]

I may have bee na bit lose but "knowledge attained through study or practice" appears to apply.

Sure, if you don't need to distinguish between science and tennis.

[Super Nova]

Would you consider farming or building a chariot an applied science?

[freediver]

You can apply the scientific method to just about anything really (admittedly with varying degrees of success). It is only science if you treat it as a science. If you are just farming, then you are just farming. Applying the knowledge gained through science is no more science than turning on a computer is science.

[Super Nova]

Agreed. However to invent farming, improving on it, testing new ways to farm, introducing the plough... is science. Once the knpowldge has been learned, other can apply it.

So what I was talking about was that science as defined by it's method has been with us from the beginning of modern humans existence.

[HIGHERBEAM]

To equate a stone age man stumbling on farming methods to splitting the atom is a bit of a stretch.

What came first religion,politics or science ?

a.Did not the religous zealots build stonehenge
b.Who organised the zealots,politicians?
c.who showed the zealots how to build stonehenge with out it falling,scienctists?

[Super Nova]

"To equate a stone age man stumbling on farming methods to splitting the atom is a bit of a stretch."
I don't think I am. I contend that we think of science as Modern Science. There was science before Modern Science.

"What came first religion,politics or science ? "
Politics came first as we are a herd/community species.
Scientific process followed as the first apeman started to reason, experiment and form a view of why things worked and he/she could forecast an outcome based on reasoning. (A simple scientific process)
Religion that was captured by the political.

"a.Did not the religous zealots build stonehenge"
Probably however they needed an organised political structure to manage it. However it was a scientific instrument to measure the exact timing of the summer and winter solstice. Clearly an applied implementation of science.

“b.Who organised the zealots,politicians?”
Yes. If you consider the Catholic church, it full of politicians. Politicians today in the west exist outside the church due to the separation of state and religion.

“c.who showed the zealots how to build stonehenge with out it falling,scienctists?”
More of an engineer/project manager with a scientist helping, not modern scientist however it was innovative for it’s time so someone learned via experiment what worked and what did not and directed others with that knowledge. As we do today.

[Super Nova]

You can apply the scientific method to just about anything really (admittedly with varying degrees of success). It is only science if you treat it as a science. If you are just farming, then you are just farming. Applying the knowledge gained through science is no more science than turning on a computer is science.

I agree. You can apply the scientific method to anything. I wish everyone did, the world would be better place.

"It is only science if you treat it as a science."

You refer to pure science. Like pure maths, it is science for science (inquiry) sake. All I can pull on is the evidence that we have progressed overtime with the evidence left behind. Each new advancement was either the result of trial and error (experiementing) or someone thinking it through and predicting an outcome and testing that outcome. Thus forming a theory. Trial and error is a valid scientific process as well as it involves thought processes like "I think it will work better if I do this, nah that did not achieve the result... next idea." When it worked there was a theory (personal understanding) for why it worked, even if that was not true by our standards of understanding today.

We base our compouter technology today on our theory of quantum machanics. Everyone knows it is wrong but it works when applied. We test this theory until we discover a situation it does not fit and then we revise. The noble prize goes to the one that creates a new theory in advance of the discovery that the current model does not work and his new one does.

[Santa]

What's the Fucking Magic Number again you Christmas C unts?