Science, Bah

My father was a science teacher. I have a subscription to Discover magazine and actively seek information online. I appreciate science more than most people I know.

But it rubs me the wrong way when people put all their faith into science, typically in reference to science holding all the answers we need. The supposition is that whatever is currently unknown will at some point have a known if science has enough time to reveal the answers. That line of thinking is not far from waiting for the Apocalypse to prove Christianity.

Conscious thought eludes scientific explanation. Why we need sleep or dream is not well understood. How gravity operates remains unexplained. What the Big Bang sprang out of is not even subject to science because it cannot be tested. A favorite anecdote is the reason anesthesia works is a mystery - and not far from trial and error in practice.

Then there is the funky world of quantum mechanics - I have not seen a great explanation for why a proton and electron don't repel each other entirely or collide rather than hanging around each other in orbit. It's probable computer modeling helps quite a bit there, but there are other limitations I am not sure can be overcome. If there is multiverse separate from our universe, if there are myriad dimensions, if there are particles that move faster or are smaller than light itself, it might be impossible to ever observe these things.


Science delivered more than any individual could imagine and a legacy of innovations. It did so through questioning and testing. Science is not flawless nor was the scientific method meant to dissuade doubt, quite the contrary. The basis is repeatable results not blind adherence to any given result. Scientists should always question themselves and we should too, because that helps motivate them.