I Have A Dream

This phrase is famously attached to Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech delivered on August 28, 1963, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial (link). I can't think of a more powerful speech of unity and love. However, in reality, the USA is very far from achieving the speech's ideals. This link points to the extreme fragmentation of political opinion in the USA preventing significant agreement regarding how to achieve societal well-being.

MY "dream" of unity and love involves achieving a consensus agreement on what is "Truth" and how to best understand it and apply it to the benefit of society as a whole. The vast majority of USA society is religious, uses alternatives to medicine, believes in conspiracy theories, and otherwise believes in various pseudosciences (false knowledge). All of these beliefs/practices are harmful (peruse this blog for support for this fact). The ONLY alternative to this false knowledge problem is agreeing to only accept claims based on good objective evidence. Ideally, this would negate the role of traditional political parties (many Founding Fathers were leery of political parties due to factionalization of voters (link)). If one requires a name for the political movement I am presenting, how about the Sci Party?

Can You Justify Your Beliefs?

Scenario 1

You have a medical complaint (subjective). How are you going to find out what the problem is? Will you go to a local chiropractor, naturopath, or some other quack (pseudoscientist)? Or, will you go to the appropriate licensed physician/physician extender (science-based practitioner) who can objectively determine the truth?

Scenario 2

You are told by a friend that there are space aliens in the military complex in the next town (subjective). Are you going to accept the claim because he or she is a friend who has always been truthful in the past (subjective)? Or, are you going to research the plausibility of the claim and any evidence of such by availing yourself of the findings from recognized experts in the appropriate fields (objective)?

Scenario 3

All of your life you have been told about a God who is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving. You have accepted this claim because you have loving family and friends and they all agree that this is The Truth (subjective). You also look around and see a reality that you feel must have been created and you long for a relationship with your creator to feel secure (subjective). Do you accept these claims without objective evidence (on Faith) or do you investigate objectively what science has to say about the claims for a God?

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The word "science" is from the Latin for "knowledge." "Knowledge" is "JUSTIFIED, true belief." In the scenarios above, what actions are justified in understanding objective reality?

Does Science Justify Itself?

KNOWLEDGE philosophically is commonly taken to mean JUSTIFIED, true belief (link). A conflict persists over whether science depends on its justification on philosophy or is independent of such. The following article delves into the matter. Anyone who knows me knows that I support the latter. After reading this, I will let you decide. However, if you disagree with me, please refute this from the article: "- - - philosophy itself has no way of justifying its tenets."

Click on the link below:

Science is a product of science!