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Tuesday, March 23, 2021

Science -VS- Scientism

Medicine is an art that is based on science. Art basically means you take the wisdom you have and use it to help your individual patient. And since every patient is different, how to help individual patients will be different. 

Science is a part of medicine that seems to be confusing for some. I walk around town and I see these signs that say, "We believe in science." Or, "Thank You Science." And I can't help but think these people do not know what science is. 

Those signs say something about our country's cult of scientism. What is scientism: It's an excessive belief in the power of scientific knowledge and techniques.

I can give you some examples.
  1. Asthma is a nervous disorder
  2. The hypoxic drive theory is true
  3. The earth is flat.
  4. The earth is the center of the universe.
  5. Global cooling is caused by man.
  6. Global warming is caused by man
  7. Climate change is caused by man
  8. Masks prevent the spread of COVID-19
  9. Vaccinated people can still spread the disease they were vaccinated against (this turned out to be true)
These are all examples of theories that have become truths to some people before studies verified it. The truth is that some of these theories have been proven false, while others are still being studied. 

Scientism is blindly believing in a theory that is created by science so much so that you forget what science really is. 

So what is science?

Science, by its nature, is an argument. It's debate. It’s controversy. It is attempting to disprove or prove a theory. Science is not blindly adhering to one theory.

Science gives you the scientific method. It gives you ways to do unbiased studies of theories. And from there they either prove or disprove them. And, for the record, science can never be fully proved. For example, how do you prove global warming is caused by man when the climate has been warming and cooling naturally for 4.5 billion years now. So, the only proof of the global warming theory is computer modulated data. And computer modulated data is only as good as the data entered into it. And, which, there isn't much data, considering we have been studying our climate for less than 150 years. So, there really is no way to prove man-made global warming. We should respect a theory, perhaps, But to worship it seems folly.

Science is never fully settled. It is constantly being verified, challenged, and debated. 

And, furthermore, science is not up to a consensus. So many times you hear people talking about science as though it were up for a vote. I often hear people saying, "Since 99% of scientists believe in global warming, that makes it so." 

No. That is not how it works. Science either is or is not. It is not up to a vote or a consensus. You could have 100% of scientists say they believe in global warming, that does not make it so. The same with any other theory you have out there. 

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