Q) Why do I believe that special relativity is true?
A) Because scientists have told me their standards of evidence, and that the evidence for special relativity meets those standards.
I haven’t seen anything contract when moving close to the speed of light. I haven’t measured the speed of light in a vacuum and found that it is independent of the non-accelerating motion of the observer. I haven’t measured a change in mass during nuclear reactions. I simply hear what people tell me, and decide to believe it.
I can try to apply filters to determine who I can regard as a legitimate authority on various topics. Anyone whose arguments are logically inconsistent is obviously right out. I can check credentials. I can ask people why they accept a claim, and if I disapprove of their standard of evidence, I can give their claims less credence. I can see if the topic is controversial among those whose standards of evidence I respect, and if it is, I can refrain from judgment on the grounds that if there were strong evidence either way, there would be no controversy.
Many things tend to be such that we have to act without anywhere near the amount of evidence that even the social sciences demand. How should I invest my money? What will make me more attractive to potential mates? Who should I vote for? Is (insert enemy here) really a dire threat that my country needs to fight and defeat? What career should I pursue? Which person should I hire? It’s really hard to design and perform experiments to answer questions like this. Heck, we still don’t even know what kind of food is best to eat!
Seems to me that a lack of patience is part of the problem. Some people would like to be able to really understand why special relativity is true and go through the argument and experiments but they’d have to invest quite some time doing so, before they’d find out for themselves.
So too various other things people would like to know, but believe they haven’t got the time to deeply examine. Couple that with a compressed curriculum in education where students now need to know more than ever before and know it in less time. Couple that with our society that puts information into increasingly small packets, that spends vast amounts of advertising dollars on convincing people in the shortest optimum time to buy some item, and it’s revealed that people are time poor when it comes to deeply understanding and investigating what it is they want to know.
Now with regards to “we still don’t even know what kind of food is best to eat!”
That is a question that we do know! But you probably won’t find it in advertising material, you probably won’t find it one particular book, and you most certainly won’t find it in one particular eatery/restaurant. You will find the answer from a professional dietician/nutritionist (whatever your country calls them) that’s spent about 3 years studying to find out the answer in all its complexity.
Shall we trust that professional, shall we have faith in that professional? Or do we want to find out the answer for ourselves… whilst we struggle with paying the mortgage, getting the kids to school and meeting our work commitments?
When we dismiss “faith” and “trust”, and I don’t mean in a deity, I mean when we dismiss faith and trust in other humans, we are left in a very precarious position of having to work it all out for ourselves.
I can see if the topic is controversial among those whose standards of evidence I respect, and if it is, I can refrain from judgment on the grounds that if there were strong evidence either way, there would be no controversy.
Now with regards to “we still don’t even know what kind of food is best to eat!” That is a question that we do know! … You will find the answer from a professional dietician/nutritionist (whatever your country calls them) that’s spent about 3 years studying to find out the answer in all its complexity.
Are you asserting that there is no controversy among credentialed nutritionists about what kind of food is best to eat?
Are you asserting that there is no controversy among credentialed nutritionists about what kind of food is best to eat?
Nutritionist here. The protected word is “dietician”, literally anyone can legitimately call themselves “nutritionists”, whereas you actually have to have some relevant credentials before you’re a credited dietician.
As a nutritionist, my professional opinion is that bricks are quite healthy, due to their high iron content.
I assert that suitably diligent nutritionists do make a series of measurements of a particular individual and then offer accurate advice on what are the best kinds of food to eat in that circumstance, that they will retest those measurements and refine their advice as appropriate.
It’s my opinion that much of the “controversy” with regards to what are the best kinds of food to eat is based in the fact that many people, including some of those who hold a certification in nutrition/diet make no measurements before they make a judgment. My opinion is that it’s the generalist answer that is controversial, not the specific.
Hmmm...
Q) Why do I believe that special relativity is true? A) Because scientists have told me their standards of evidence, and that the evidence for special relativity meets those standards.
I haven’t seen anything contract when moving close to the speed of light. I haven’t measured the speed of light in a vacuum and found that it is independent of the non-accelerating motion of the observer. I haven’t measured a change in mass during nuclear reactions. I simply hear what people tell me, and decide to believe it.
George Orwell put it far more elegantly, and you can read what he wrote at http://www.newenglishreview.org/blog_direct_link.cfm?blog_id=4274
I can try to apply filters to determine who I can regard as a legitimate authority on various topics. Anyone whose arguments are logically inconsistent is obviously right out. I can check credentials. I can ask people why they accept a claim, and if I disapprove of their standard of evidence, I can give their claims less credence. I can see if the topic is controversial among those whose standards of evidence I respect, and if it is, I can refrain from judgment on the grounds that if there were strong evidence either way, there would be no controversy.
Many things tend to be such that we have to act without anywhere near the amount of evidence that even the social sciences demand. How should I invest my money? What will make me more attractive to potential mates? Who should I vote for? Is (insert enemy here) really a dire threat that my country needs to fight and defeat? What career should I pursue? Which person should I hire? It’s really hard to design and perform experiments to answer questions like this. Heck, we still don’t even know what kind of food is best to eat!
Seems to me that a lack of patience is part of the problem. Some people would like to be able to really understand why special relativity is true and go through the argument and experiments but they’d have to invest quite some time doing so, before they’d find out for themselves. So too various other things people would like to know, but believe they haven’t got the time to deeply examine. Couple that with a compressed curriculum in education where students now need to know more than ever before and know it in less time. Couple that with our society that puts information into increasingly small packets, that spends vast amounts of advertising dollars on convincing people in the shortest optimum time to buy some item, and it’s revealed that people are time poor when it comes to deeply understanding and investigating what it is they want to know.
Now with regards to “we still don’t even know what kind of food is best to eat!” That is a question that we do know! But you probably won’t find it in advertising material, you probably won’t find it one particular book, and you most certainly won’t find it in one particular eatery/restaurant. You will find the answer from a professional dietician/nutritionist (whatever your country calls them) that’s spent about 3 years studying to find out the answer in all its complexity. Shall we trust that professional, shall we have faith in that professional? Or do we want to find out the answer for ourselves… whilst we struggle with paying the mortgage, getting the kids to school and meeting our work commitments?
When we dismiss “faith” and “trust”, and I don’t mean in a deity, I mean when we dismiss faith and trust in other humans, we are left in a very precarious position of having to work it all out for ourselves.
Are you asserting that there is no controversy among credentialed nutritionists about what kind of food is best to eat?
Nutritionist here. The protected word is “dietician”, literally anyone can legitimately call themselves “nutritionists”, whereas you actually have to have some relevant credentials before you’re a credited dietician.
As a nutritionist, my professional opinion is that bricks are quite healthy, due to their high iron content.
I assert that suitably diligent nutritionists do make a series of measurements of a particular individual and then offer accurate advice on what are the best kinds of food to eat in that circumstance, that they will retest those measurements and refine their advice as appropriate.
It’s my opinion that much of the “controversy” with regards to what are the best kinds of food to eat is based in the fact that many people, including some of those who hold a certification in nutrition/diet make no measurements before they make a judgment. My opinion is that it’s the generalist answer that is controversial, not the specific.