SCIENCE! And some thoughts on popscience like The Secret, or What the Bleep.

I had a conversation with a guy that was talking about the metaphysical side Chaos Theory, IE *total bullshit*.  Saying more scientists don’t visit it, as it is unknowable.  I mean.. who is this guy?  I am quickly becoming fed up with people that consume their science from pop culture.

Arguing  with irrational people that are “against” science, or are holistic new agers that don’t get it is pointless.  More dangerous than some of the religious people are the new agers that believe you can create your realities ( a la “The Secret”), or redefine science into some fun pop science (a la What the Bleep do we Know?, or pop media Chaos Theory)

What I get tired of is the concept of science being a religion, or when science doesn’t answer something… it shows it’s limitations.

WELL….

Science is not a religion.  It doesn’t have “limitations” in the sense people talk about them.  It isn’t trying to give you the final word on anything, and it certainly isn’t limiting in any sense.  It is once again a demonstration of people’s fundamental lack of understanding about what science is, and how it works.

Those people are thinking of science as something that is attempting to provide *ultimate truths*.

It doesn’t!  It never claimed to, it never wanted to, it doesn’t need to.  Ultimate truths come from religion.  Science is a method of interpeting reality through a series of objective and empirical tests to arrive at a logical conclusion, because we know that human experience and belief are the least valid forms of proof!

The comment (in a previous discussion) about Chaos Theory is the **BEST** possible example of the dregs of pop science.  HORRIBLE films like What the Bleeb Do We Know? pejorativized it into some bizarre, random, magical story….

Like the butterfly effect…. *what it really is* versus *what people think it is* are laughably different, the latter being pop science.  Chaos theory is simply non linear dynamics…. complex systems.  It has nothing to do with the way people use and define “chaos”.

I don’t mean to be rude.. but I don’t think you get Chaos Theory at all.  Just because it uses the word Chaos doesn’t mean it is random.  In fact, it isn’t random.  It is mathematically deterministic and I am fairly confident that there are ZERO random elements.

Chaos isn’t some “unanswerable” thing.  It isn’t some broad, untestable philosophical concept.  And it certainly isn’t some mystical, amazing random thing.

See… people find real science dull.

They don’t want to talk about whether E8 Geometry is more viable than Superstring for a Grand Unified Theory because you can’t make it into pop science.  It gets pretty boring when you start arguing about the elegance of one theory versus another that starts making unnecessary, and fairly ugly, extra universes to accomodate gravity.  It just seems stupid to me.  Anyhoo.. people snooze with real scientific discussion.

The universe is elegant.  We know in most situations it is breathtakingly elegant in many ways, mathematically.  As soon as you have something that is testable, then “provable” (science never *actually* proves anything, it tests a hypothesis with data to create a supportable, and critically reviewed, theory)… a lot of people think the magic or spark of the question is gone as they believe it has been answered.

People have a natural desire for wonder, and they seek it in magical ways with magical belief.  Remember when Newton defined what was happening with a rainbow, and Keats got all huffy about him unweaving the mystery of it?

I think knowing something deeply, and knowing how it truly exists, provides a lifetime of profound wonder and deep awe.

I personally think that is where the natural awe and wonder begin… to know something deeply.  Fully….

Most show an obvious lack of understanding about what science is, and many have only digested science from the media and pop culture, rather than delving in and checking it out.  Check the Chaos Theory wiki page… I am sure you will find the reality of it fascinating, rather than some arcane, unknowable concept.

The truth is always more interesting.
In the end, I think “What the Bleep Do we Know?” is not only the most devisive, uncritical, and crazy films ever to be made, it’s acclaim has really destroyed a good part of the public’s ability to critically understand it because they are so desperate to believe in magic.

People really want to believe the universe is more complex and magical than it really is.

I think it is “magical” in it’s obvious orderly elegance.

I think it is breathtaking to know each breath and step and embrace and moment is a chance… and we have a chance while we are here to be aware, to embrace reality, and to find awe and wonder in this bittersweet walk towards the end of the pier that we take every second.

Don’t deceive yourself… like is too incredible for that.

Embrace reality.

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And I would LOVE to talk about Superstring G.U.T. versus E8 Geometry.  I am still trying to get a handle on E8 (i never will)…. but if the universe is really as beautiful as the below diagram, I might cry (takes a second to load as it is a complex vector diagram of the highest finite level) :

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/E8_graph.svg

YAY FOR SEMIREGULAR POLYTYPES!!!!