ReaperOfSly
Gallente
Zetsubou Corp
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Posted - 2008.11.27 22:57:00 -
[5]
 Originally by: Daxel Magmalloy
Edited by: Daxel Magmalloy on 27/11/2008 21:19:49
Ok I'll bite. 
Originally by: Naomi Wynn
I lol at this.
Research and science in general never prove anything. Proof is for mathematics. Conclusions drawn from evidence are only as strong as the data and the interpretations thereof.
Questioning everything means more than having a high IQ.
Well, no offense, but if you are really so thirsty for knowledge, you could try reading the article in question.  I'm sure you could get it posted to you wherever you are in the world.
http://info.bbcfocusmagazine.com/?bbcam=adwds&bbkid=focus+bbc&x=&jtid=70945&client_code=
And if you do that, you can read for yourself how compelling the data is, and it's interpretations. I would be genuinely interested in debating that with you.
Meantime, very sorry to say this, but I'm not sure you can lol when you don't really know what you are talking about. Unless I'm mistaken, and you have in fact read the article?
Originally by: Naomi Wynn
Proof is for mathematics.
Now, lets examine this point. Please explain this to my obviously inferior mind. Do you mean to say that if research data and it's interpretations are not based on mathematics, there will always be some aspect of uncertainty?
If I were to embark on a quick research project to test if my cat is alive when I write this post, there must be some aspect of uncertainty unless I can prove it by mathematics?
Do I understand you correctly there?
He means it's impossible to prove anything 100% except mathematical theorems (and lemmas, propositions, corollaries, etc). Physics simply has theories and laws which are a best-fit match to observed data, but that will never preclude the possibility that an entirely different mechanism is causing the same effects. Much of current work in science (at least, the interesting parts) is picking apart previously "proven" facts, subjecting them to bizarre conditions and getting results that current theory says should not happen.
However, with maths you CAN prove things 100%. That's because it's constructed logically from fundamental axioms, and without reliance on real-world stuff. A mathematical theorem is true no matter what universe you're in, and no matter what bizarre conditions you subject it to.
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