Author: Daniel T.Daniel T. Date: Dec 8, 2007 06:34
In article , "Scot" me.net> wrote:
> On the face of it, the goal of science might seem to be "to know the truth".
> A lofty goal, but I now think that "knowing the truth" isn't the goal at
> all: The goal is to understand [as best we can]. We have models of atoms,
> subatomic particles... all we really have are just models. Our models don't
> really "tell us what the truth is" but they do provide insight and give us a
> way to think about what [could be] going on. As long as our models "work"
> (make accurate predictions) then we consider the models to be valid and
> useful.
The only problem I see with the above is in using the word "truth" as if
it were an entity. You say the goal of science is really "to
understand". To understand what? To understand how the universe works of
course. Scientific theories and laws are "truth" in that they predict
what is and what will be.
> So, I might not have convinced you yet but I boldly say : "the goal of
> science is to investigate and model the universe". There is an implicit
> assumption in science that the universe can be understood. That is, the
> universe operates by natural laws and we can investigate, model, and
> ultimately understand.
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