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But what is this field of force ?
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We've just said that these concepts are not physical realities but tools for describing what we observe, and you're back to asking the question of existence using the word "is", which of course can have no answer other than the one already given. Before talking about the limits of science, or even asserting that it is wrong, the first thing is to reflect on the limits of one's own knowledge. When I was getting back into the swing of things, having given up physics a long time ago, it took me ten years or so to get to grips with relativity, even though I'd studied the subject in university. The concept became a simple, common-sense way of explaining so much of what we observe, even though I know very little about calculating in GR. Do you think it's possible to understand this kind of thing, or even the question you asked, without ever working hard to understand the basics of physics, without spending time taking courses, without doing practical equation-solving exercises?! And if we don't understand it, how can we say it's wrong or incomplete? Certainly, if science is reduced to what those who have never studied it understand, a mediocre popularization, it is false. I think that's why it's so decried in the FE movement. We're all ignorant to one degree or another, but there are two kinds of ignorant: those who understand that they have limits and that those smarter than they are can guide them, so they can learn before they fly on their own, and those who judge from the height of their ignorance that what seems too complicated to them is wrong, so they'll never progress since their prejudices are enough for them.
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"Open your mind, but not like a trash bin"
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Topic: What is wrong with science today (Read 12607 times)
