Double edged sword
So I read this article this week entitled "The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete". The author essentially is saying that the age of hypothesizing and experimenting and the development of theories is over. Given the abilities of computers to collect and manipulate data, there is no point in attempting to theorize such things because you can just collect the data and then let supercomputers crunch some numbers and determine any correlations.
That idea is part of a greater philosophy that is quite popular today which I think is detrimental to humanity as a whole.
It's a little more obvious on a smaller, more personal level. Dave and Chuck the freak were talking today about this as well in regard to cell phones and navigation units. It was noted that cell phones basically have made people somewhat stupid, myself included. Upon meeting someone new, most peeps just enter a new phone number and name into their phone and then they forget about it. Whenever a call is received or placed, that person's name is referenced instead of the number. The result is that we never see the phone numbers anymore and therefore, have no idea what they are. That's fine as long as you have your phone that has power. Once you lose your phone or lose power, you have no more numbers. In an emergency, you may not know any phone numbers to call including those of the people you talk to everyday. The point is that the reliance on technology can easily become a huge weakness that may ultimately do us in. It's the same with the nav units. People already have forgotten map reading skills, which weren't all that popular anyway. The irony is that nav units that I've seen, aren't all that reliable. I have personally experienced a nav unit that somehow reverted back to another destination and was completely misdirecting the car. It seems that there just is no substitute for human understanding and knowledge. A machine simply takes inputs and gives outputs and it can't tell you whether the outputs make any sense.
So back to the scientific method. If it's obvious to see that tecnology may be creating mental weaknesses in the average person through everyday experiences, I would say that the scientific research peeps are not immune to it either. It seems as though the new science is to just put sensors on everything and collect the data and then crunch it. The problem is that sensors are only as good as their placement. Also, how do you know if you are collecting enough data to make an accurate picture?
I think about Isaac Newton coming up with his theories and equations in the 1600's when there were no calculators or computers to do the math. It seems to me that somehow peeps were smarter in past centuries than we are now. I don't know very many peeps that could do that kind of math on their own without calculators, much less come up the equations and relationships of how it all works. It seems like the scientists are getting used to the cell phone phenomenon and are taking it to the next level. It just feels like you can tell that we are suffering from the technology rather than benefitting from it. I don't feel very warm and fuzzy about the fact that the leaders in the scientific communities are taking their cues from the average joe who doesn't even know his best friend's phone number.
I'm just saying.
That idea is part of a greater philosophy that is quite popular today which I think is detrimental to humanity as a whole.
It's a little more obvious on a smaller, more personal level. Dave and Chuck the freak were talking today about this as well in regard to cell phones and navigation units. It was noted that cell phones basically have made people somewhat stupid, myself included. Upon meeting someone new, most peeps just enter a new phone number and name into their phone and then they forget about it. Whenever a call is received or placed, that person's name is referenced instead of the number. The result is that we never see the phone numbers anymore and therefore, have no idea what they are. That's fine as long as you have your phone that has power. Once you lose your phone or lose power, you have no more numbers. In an emergency, you may not know any phone numbers to call including those of the people you talk to everyday. The point is that the reliance on technology can easily become a huge weakness that may ultimately do us in. It's the same with the nav units. People already have forgotten map reading skills, which weren't all that popular anyway. The irony is that nav units that I've seen, aren't all that reliable. I have personally experienced a nav unit that somehow reverted back to another destination and was completely misdirecting the car. It seems that there just is no substitute for human understanding and knowledge. A machine simply takes inputs and gives outputs and it can't tell you whether the outputs make any sense.
So back to the scientific method. If it's obvious to see that tecnology may be creating mental weaknesses in the average person through everyday experiences, I would say that the scientific research peeps are not immune to it either. It seems as though the new science is to just put sensors on everything and collect the data and then crunch it. The problem is that sensors are only as good as their placement. Also, how do you know if you are collecting enough data to make an accurate picture?
I think about Isaac Newton coming up with his theories and equations in the 1600's when there were no calculators or computers to do the math. It seems to me that somehow peeps were smarter in past centuries than we are now. I don't know very many peeps that could do that kind of math on their own without calculators, much less come up the equations and relationships of how it all works. It seems like the scientists are getting used to the cell phone phenomenon and are taking it to the next level. It just feels like you can tell that we are suffering from the technology rather than benefitting from it. I don't feel very warm and fuzzy about the fact that the leaders in the scientific communities are taking their cues from the average joe who doesn't even know his best friend's phone number.
I'm just saying.
posted by Wurfel at
9:31 PM
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