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What Do We Mean When We Say Science?
Why we can’t “believe in” science despite its astonishing accomplishments
It’s a common occurrence to see some claim made in the media conjoined with the stock phrase “according to a scientist” or “a scientist says.” This is supposed to lend an air of credibility to the sensationalist misinformation that invariably follows. For the most part this ruse works, largely because most people regard “science” as a modern belief system that by some unaccountable factor is more authoritative than claims made by holy books or astrologers or Tarot cards.
“Science” for most people, therefore, is simply a totem. The average person has no understanding of what science is, nor why it’s been granted authority in our modern world. A great many people (too many people) believe that “science” is merely a belief system like any other and as such it’s a matter of personal choice. Such people argue endlessly that their particular belief system, whether it’s the prognosticative powers of fairies, the influence of the stars, the arrangement of a deck of cards, or even patterns in tea-leaves, are “just as good as” anything science provides.
Science, we are told repeatedly by such folk, is just as arbitrary as any other belief and just as devoid of any firm foundation as the most risible children’s tale.
