Interesting read…
…from a guy who has some knowledge of the subject. As Wikipedia (not always the best source, but close enough here) puts is, “Jerry Pournelle is a essayist and science fiction author. He holds advanced degrees in psychology, statistics, engineering and political science.”
Even though its focus is not directed specifically at the science/politics interface, it’s worth reading as a prelude to considering how politics affects what is regarded as science in climatology, medicine, and other fields.
Writing elsewhere referring to the essay linked above, Pournelle does a nice shirt cuff precis of the essay:
“I long ago did an essay on “The Voodoo Science” in which I pointed out that novelists require only plausibility, lawyers need evidence, but science requires data — and also requires that ALL the data be taken into account, which means going outside closed systems to check with the real world. And that, I think, is the real difference between the fuzzy subjects and the sciences and the humanities: if you endlessly apply logic to a closed system with no chance of checking against reality, you had better have chosen the right closed system — and we have no way of knowing what that one is.”
Worth taking a couple of minutes out of your day to read and ponder, IMO.
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Posted: January 21st, 2008 under Linkfests, Passing Shot.
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Trackback from Conservative Cat
Time January 21, 2008 at 1:46 PM
Pay Attention to the Unconscious Cat…
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Pingback from Republicans Say Warrantless Surveillance Of Terrorists Constitutional — Pirate’s Cove
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Trackback from Right Truth
Time January 21, 2008 at 8:47 PM
Do the voters really understand what’s at stake?…
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Time January 21, 2008 at 9:48 PM
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Time January 21, 2008 at 10:52 PM
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Trackback from Mark My Words
Time January 22, 2008 at 2:17 AM
Fred Thompson – announcement tomorrow?…
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Trackback from Mark My Words
Time January 22, 2008 at 2:57 AM
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Trackback from Faultline USA
Time January 21, 2008 at 11:17 AM
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