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Date: | Tue, 30 Oct 2001 09:41:52 -0500 |
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>>> [log in to unmask] 10/30/01 07:46AM >>>
quote:
>Good scientists are trained to be skeptical so as not to be deluded
>or, more particularly, as Feynman said, not to delude themselves.
>Indeed, in both science and technology, it is not embarrassing to be
>skeptical of a brilliant new paradigm or a remarkable breakthrough
>that turns out years later to be right. It's simply the nature of
>the job.
comment:
There is a good reason for skepticism in scientists. Optimism may lead to a non-objective interpretation of results, whereas skepticism leads to further experimentation or studies to verify results. It is one reason why scientists perform replications in time and space, use controls in experiments, and ask hard questions of other researchers to provide evidence to support their views. There is a wonderful parallel in government - the official opposition in Canada and other parliamentary nations are the skeptics that assail every bill introduced by the government, just to make sure it is well thought out and receives input from people less optimistic than those that drafted it.
Martin Damus
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