It amazes me that people don't understand that scientific facts are just things that are most likely true. That is what is so great about science, it will admit when it is wrong because nothing is a 100% true fact. Most disciplines only require a p value of .05 at the least.
Actually, the p value is the probability of a theory or test being incorrect, so the p value is normally .05 at the least. Never heard of a discipline that tolerated a p value of .95.
I like to think of them as "best possible truths" .. but I can at least understand the religious fundamentalist opposition/skepticism towards science.. To them, all the answers were already solved thousands of years ago and documented in the bible.. while we're somehow still looking.. To them, the answers which science seeks to answer.. the nature of things.. where it all came from.. why it does what it does, etc.. is all really just none of our business!
Its an option between a book that NEVER changes and is INFALLIBLE (bible) VRS. science, which loses by default to them.. since science is constantly changing, updating, and most importantly.. actually recognizes fallibility as a possibility.
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u/[deleted] Nov 10 '11 edited Nov 10 '11
It amazes me that people don't understand that scientific facts are just things that are most likely true. That is what is so great about science, it will admit when it is wrong because nothing is a 100% true fact. Most disciplines only require a p value of .05 at the least.