There’s a scene in the Netflix series Space Force when Chief Scientist Dr. Adrian Mallory asks, “why do you distrust scientists?” To which General Naird angrily replies, “you scientists say don’t eat carbs one day and only eat carbs the next”. One of the scientists in the room interjects, saying, “because of the sample sizesContinue reading “Has the scientific method been suspended?”
Category Archives: Scientific method
I just know I'm right
Apart from death and taxes, the next most certain thing in life is how social media will suddenly light up with self-proclaimed experts on whatever topic grasps the public interest at the time. Over the past few years we’ve had upsurges in confident opinion on everything from economics, British constitutional law, international trade, vaccines andContinue reading “I just know I'm right”
Rerunning the great science experiment
A lawyer friend of mine once asked me what science is, and what separates it from any other intellectual discipline? The question followed a philosophical discussion where I claimed my friend, as a lawyer, had a tendency to decide upon his desired outcome and then search for the evidence to support it. Science, I explained,Continue reading “Rerunning the great science experiment”
Subjective experience is not evidence
We all have our own idiosyncrasies and habits which we learn mostly from personal experience. Formulating a useful mental model of the world is what’s kept our species alive over evolutionary time. If eating a particular plant made you ill, then you knew to avoid it in the future. The problem with this is thatContinue reading “Subjective experience is not evidence”
Everyday use of the Scientific Method
About a year ago I had an experience of how the scientific method could apply to a simple domestic situation. I thought I would share it as there are parallels between science and pseudoscience in this story of everyday folk. I rented a house in Lincoln (UK) whilst I was an academic at the University’sContinue reading “Everyday use of the Scientific Method”
Graham Lappin 