Peter's Science and Religion Pages
Peter's Index Science & Religion
The Method and Goal of Normal Science
•Choose a field of interest.
• From known theory choose an uninvestigated area.
• Formulate a proposal to either measure fundamental properties or determine patterns/relationships/mechanism between properties.
• Choose a technique of measurement that will give you the information that you are looking for.
• Perform the measurements.
• Assess the measurements to see how reliable they are.
• If measuring fundamental properties, check for patterns that may be significant (i.e. lead to new proposals).
• If predictions were involved assess how well the results conform.
• If necessary propose ammendments/additions to the theory (leading to further measurements).
The goal of modern physics is to construct patterns or reveal "symmetries" that demonstrate the mechanisms that operate between all events.
Science does not look for purpose or plan. It does not look for the reason why.
It looks for how well an internal mental construct matches the external world of perception. That is, how successful a theory is in making predictions about events and properties.
Sometimes two or more contradictory theories can be used to predict events. This is no problem because reality may well be viewed in a number of satisfactory ways.
One theory may explain one set of results and a contradictory one explains a different set of results (e.g. light as a wave or a particle). Our mental constructs may never fully cover the reality that is.
One theory is not "the truth" as opposed to another theory, theories are just good or bad in terms of how well they fit.
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