Human Knowledge and the Scientific Method

In an age shaped by massive scientific advancement, absolute empirical examination is seen as a standard to be strived for. In an era where so many traditional beliefs and practices are torn apart by rigorous testing, general skepticism is the norm in science and philosophy. This development is undoubtably a good one, humans must base their actions on knowledge which has been proved irrevocably by the most effective methods possible. Objectivity is the only way to truly understand.

A core practice of the scientific method is not to take traditionally held knowledge for granted, to examine for oneself every aspect of one's knowledge in order to prove an airtight understanding, it is massively important in any form of education to base one's knowledge on fundamental truths we can prove for ourselves rather than taking at face value, information which is provided by others, no matter how important this knowledge may be in the collective cultural memory, tradition is no substitute for provable fact.

While, to the scientific mind of a postindustrial society, absolute adherence to the Scientific method seems the only logical option, the truth is, the vast shared repository of human knowledge is far to great for one individual or group to verify, we must base our research on truths we can accept to be true.

The issue here is that, excessive skepticism leads to distrust, the refusal to accept any knowledge unless directly corroborated by the individual, this is the root from which the conspiratorial mindset stems. by being skeptical of every piece of information you are provided, one begins to trust their own observations above all else, 'the earth is flat because it looks flat', these convictions are so hard to refute because of the absolute distrust in all scientific data.

300 years ago, we had widespread dogma and a lack of critical thinking, today, the trend is somewhat reversed, we have extreme skepticism and distrust of institutions at large. In order to advance human knowledge, we must have a shared informational system, because, though skepticism is valuable in throwing off the shackles of stagnant traditionalist beliefs without scientific backing. We must share our knowledge in order to create shared advancement, to quote Issac Newton "If i have seen further than others, it is only because I stood on the shoulders of giants". We must have giants on whose shoulders to stand, and we must be able to trust their knowledge to create knowledge ourselves.

A balance is needed, between empiricality and shared knowledge, to advance science as effectively as possible.

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