21–30 of 164 posts
In my opinion, we have deviated from the true essence of "Science" by using it to determine "what ought to be" instead of focusing on answering the fundamental question of "what is." I know that this is not particularly in vogue now to say, but social sciences especially did a whole lot to discredit the idea of science being something that is objective. They pretend to "do science" but instead use it to either "Laund…
If you stumble upon a website that makes the stylistic choice that text should take the whole width of your whole screen, you can toggle the "Reader view" feature in Firefox to put it back into a more usual format (F9 on Windows). If you use Chrome-based browsers, there's bookmarklets (bookmarks with a `javascript:` URI) javascript:(function(){var bod = document.getElementsByTagName("body")[0]; bod.style.margin = "40…
Sabine Hossenfelder basically posted a rant about particle physicists on Youtube last week, about how they are doing science wrong. Basically she said you are supposed to change your theory based upon results that don't match the theory, and what they have been doing for decades is looking at gaps in the results, and imagining particle theories that don't alter the expected results in the currently explored energy le…
Sabine Hossenfelder basically posted a rant about particle physicists on Youtube last week, about how they are doing science wrong. Basically she said you are supposed to change your theory based upon results that don't match the theory, and what they have been doing for decades is looking at gaps in the results, and imagining particle theories that don't alter the expected results in the currently explored energy le…
For a defense of the 'unicorns in unexplored forests', that was pretty much the approach that led to the discovery of most of the standard model.
Plus, given dark matter and dark energy, we know something must be out there, even if its not unicorns, there's something.
Humans are innately imaginative outside of the bounds of reality. Most people I know believe in things that aren't real, whether it be crystals, chakras, essential oils, random mythologies about random things. Most interestingly, these are generally weak beliefs strongly held. You'll never convince these people that they've divorced themselves from reality, and you have nearly nothing to gain from trying. Psychologis…
Uh, placebos work, and different placebos may work better for different people!
Demonstrating that the drug discovered by your colleagues down the hall (who are pushing for their little startup biotech outfit to be acquired by Pfizer or Merck or Gilead, in an effort backed by the institution's IP office and administration) is less effective for a given condition than a drug discovered 50 years ago would be considered impolite, and would lessen your chances of getting tenure and having a successful career.
For example, molnupiravir and nirmatrelvir (aka Paxlovid), heavily promoted for COVID treatment, may be no more effective than older out-of-patent anti-histamine drugs:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9903129/
> "Since antihistamines seems to hold a crucial prognostic role in the management of Covid‐19, there is a need to identify and repurpose some potential antihistamine drugs. One study suggested diphenhydramine, hydroxyzine, and azelastine to be considered in repositioning, then further research in them. 17 Due to its potent, less side effects, rapid onset of action, specificity, antiallergic, and anti‐inflammatory properties, 24 Cetirizine might be an important drug of consideration in managing Covid‐19 patients at the moment compared to other antihistamines or histamine receptors (H2, H3, and H4)."
Corporatization and the profit motive have an undeniably corrupting effect on scientific integrity, that's clear enough.
Sabine Hossenfelder basically posted a rant about particle physicists on Youtube last week, about how they are doing science wrong. Basically she said you are supposed to change your theory based upon results that don't match the theory, and what they have been doing for decades is looking at gaps in the results, and imagining particle theories that don't alter the expected results in the currently explored energy le…
"What's Going Wrong in Particle Physics?"
Humans are innately imaginative outside of the bounds of reality. Most people I know believe in things that aren't real, whether it be crystals, chakras, essential oils, random mythologies about random things. Most interestingly, these are generally weak beliefs strongly held. You'll never convince these people that they've divorced themselves from reality, and you have nearly nothing to gain from trying. Psychologis…
You're using known pseudo-science, magic examples.
Do you want to have real fun? Try using computer science fads or political ideologies. For every new age belief, there's an even more ridiculous one, based on the same evidence (none) and hurting people and businesses. Compared to those, crystals are harmless.
Cargo cult tech: visit Silicon Valley, copy some striking behavioral traits not practiced in your little corner of the planet and hope that you will "eat the world" somehow.
Sabine Hossenfelder basically posted a rant about particle physicists on Youtube last week, about how they are doing science wrong. Basically she said you are supposed to change your theory based upon results that don't match the theory, and what they have been doing for decades is looking at gaps in the results, and imagining particle theories that don't alter the expected results in the currently explored energy le…
If thousands of people have careers in unicorn-hunting, that's what will happen.