Concept tag
#scientific-realism
-
What is the “no miracles” argument for believing electrons are real?
I've been reading al-Ghazālī's Deliverance from Error, where he doubts the senses and then doubts reason. After that I started wondering about things nobody can see at all. Nobody has ever seen an electron. My physics teacher says they are as real…
Started by Fajar Nugroho4 replies -
A model can work for decades without being true, and instrumentalism is the honest response
In my work we tune computer models of reservoirs to match years of production data, a process called history matching, and then use them to forecast. Here's the uncomfortable part: several quite different models of the rock underground match the same history…
Started by Abdulrahman Al-Bassam6 replies -
I’m a scientific realist and, after twenty-two years in the army, a political realist. Is that inconsistent?
I retired from the army after twenty-two years, the last stretch on the DMZ. On a leadership course we read the classic realist authors on international politics: states pursue power and security, and moral principles do not govern what they do to…
Started by Choi Byeong-hun5 replies -
Philosophy of science for beginners: what makes a claim scientific?
An engineer's introduction to the big questions about science: how to tell it from pseudo-science, what a failed prediction proves, whether electrons are real, and what counts as an explanation.
Started by The EditorsReply first (no replies yet) -
Being a realist about electrons commits me to nothing about moral or mathematical facts
I'm a scientific realist in the ordinary way: I think electrons, quantum fields and the like really exist, and that our best theories are approximately true of them. People sometimes assume this makes me a realist about everything else too. It doesn't,…
Started by Lars Eriksen5 replies