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Triumph Of Modern Science Over Superstit...

Johannes Kepler And The Triumph Of Modern Science Over Medieval Superstition - Best Of Carl Sagan`s Cosmos.

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15 Comments

Current View: 15 / Show all Comments

The Living End : LVL 59: VP 5: said:

The Living End

24 votes NegativePositive

309 days ago...

Carl Segan is one of the most amazing people to have graced our planet. Thanks to him and all he taught us.

BaconSoda : LVL 9: VP 1.8: said:

BaconSoda

2 votes NegativePositive

309 days ago...

Amazing

anoniem : LVL 33: VP 4.2: said:

anoniem

-2 votes NegativePositive

308 days 22 hours ago...

the problem with science today is that we assume we know a lot, when really we know very little.
when revolutionary new ideas, such as the earth being round, came into existence, people laughed and considered it impossible.
really, their ingrained assumption that they had a great understanding of how things work blinded them from considering a new theory which may turn their current beliefs on their head.
people today are so sure that what they believe is correct, they laugh or get angry at any idea which disagrees.
“Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve.”
“A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it”
-Max Planck

gordon85 : LVL 35: VP 4.3: said:

gordon85

Hidden (Show Comment) -9 votes

308 days 21 hours ago...

well said anoniem.

somber : LVL 35: VP 4.3: said:

somber

12 votes NegativePositive

308 days 18 hours ago...

^^
I disagree.
Scientist themselves, with every theory, with every hypothesis being tested, with every experiment, uncover new questions.
Every single answer leads to new inquiries, to new formerly unknown phenomena, to new problems that want to be solved.
Scientists know that.
Even though Max Planck was a great one, your quote sounds very, very cynical instead of just truthful.
Even though in certain cases he may be right, and you do point out that revolutionary theories are often deemed as ludicrous, the reason why scientific debate is set aside is not necessarily because the opponents die, but because of peer review - the more scientists test, the more they eventually find flaws or evidence.

However, I`ll grant you this: Science is often represented as if it knows all the answers. People tend to believe that science knows a lot, while it doesn`t. People tend to believe that science claims to know everything, while it doesn`t claim that whatsoever.
We can be astonished at what we know today, but if you look at the unsolved riddles, you will find that the conclusion that we actually know almost nothing should be obvious. And therefore, for any scientist to state that we know more than we do not - well, that would be probably the most ludicrous statement in the end.

LeighCedar : LVL 39: VP 4.7: said:

LeighCedar

24 votes NegativePositive

308 days 16 hours ago...

anoniem,

Your example isn`t a very good one either. Many civilizations knew the earth was round...hell the ancient Greeks nailed the distance from the earth to the moon.

Those against a round earth tended to be those that had something invested in a flat earth...say a passage in a holy book talking about the four corners of the earth or some such drabble.

RowdyTavern : LVL 1: VP 1: said:

RowdyTavern

12 votes NegativePositive

308 days 13 hours ago...

Carl Sagan is one of the most eloquent speakers I have ever had the honor of listening to.

funberg : LVL 47: VP 5: said:

funberg

3 votes NegativePositive

307 days 22 hours ago...

The whole story about people thinking that the world was flat was invented in the 19th century by the writer Washington Irving, while in truth all Western civilizations have accepted that the world is round for over 2000 years, the real argument was over the size of the earth and the distance between the European coast to the Asian coast before the Americas were `discovered`.

I think that people in most branches of science(a term that I abhor in most cases because of it`s ambiguity) feel that they know very little but can explain/predict very much. The most prominent example being gravity, we can predict the amount of force an object will exert on another to far more decimal points than is relevant to most anybody but we don`t know what causes it.

I was reminded again recently of the dangers of accepting unvetted theories from a "scientist"(a nuclear chemist I believe), without testing their explanations for their theories, when I saw one of my dads lectures on the lies and properties of hafnium crystal structures. Some of the claims that my dad was debunking had to do with using hafnium in certain crystal structures in magnetic fields resulting in powerful energy source/bomb that he had told me about several years ago(and said that it sounded like bullshit but was going to try and replicate his findings), and was revealed to be part of a scheme involving the said nuclear chemist`s wife buying huge quantities of hafnium before he released a paper claiming previously unknown value of the element.

The part that I found most interesting about the talk, was that in recreating the experiments to the exact conditions and beyond those of the people claiming new finds, and getting what the math predicted and not the miraculous claims of con-men, and shoddy science, was the value that he found in some of the ideas. Though not pocket-sized nuclear power plant breakthroughs, he found that using certain hafnium crystals under magnetic fields they could more accurately control it`s half-life, and in doing so make a more accurate nuclear clock that, in a satellite, could go beyond just proving Einstein`s theories of relativity(what we were able to decades after his ideas), and give measurements that would allow us to actually improve the math that explains the phenomena, and in turn hopefully giving us more isight into understanding the why and not just how physics effects everything.

We should always check, but not rejects theories(i.e. E=mc^2) of good logic, without undermining the math or logic behind it, but should always be weary of hypotheses with poor or no backing(i.e. earth and life was created in 7 days because the bible says so).

Sabbs : LVL 22: VP 3.1: said:

Sabbs

Hidden (Show Comment) -10 votes

307 days 22 hours ago...

"Carl Segan is one of the most amazing people to have graced our planet. Thanks to him and all he taught us."

he believed aliens brought the first cell that "created and evolved into all life on earth" and placed it on earth..

he definately wasnt taking drugs
...
...
...

psychologyprofessor : LVL 36: VP 4.4: said:

psychologyprofessor

4 votes NegativePositive

307 days 19 hours ago...

I was sooooooo about to post this......

cheers ^_^

Fillefjonkan : LVL 37: VP 4.5: said:

Fillefjonkan

4 votes NegativePositive

307 days 19 hours ago...

I Love Sagan...his voice brings nostalgia.
May he rest in peace!

thetwistedblue : LVL 17: VP 2.6: said:

thetwistedblue

-5 votes NegativePositive

307 days 16 hours ago...

stretching the word `modern` a little there, aren`t we?

Convalescence69 : LVL 33: VP 4.2: said:

Convalescence69

4 votes NegativePositive

306 days 23 hours ago...

Religion sucks! All hail Science!

bigbadjim : LVL 32: VP 4.1: said:

bigbadjim

0 votes NegativePositive

306 days 16 hours ago...

"we know very little" blah blah fucking blah.

We know a fuck of a lot more than we ever have before.

The SCIENTIFIC METHOD has changed the way we seek the truth.

The INTERNET has revolutionised the way ordinary people can access information.

AND STILL there are FUCKING HIPPIES living in a fairyland STILL worshipping the GOD OF THE GAPS.

evergrim : LVL 41: VP 4.9: said:2007 Winner

evergrim

2 votes NegativePositive

289 days 2 hours ago...

It takes great bravery to tell the truth sometimes, especially when nobody believes you.

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