This brings us to the slightly opposing idea that the march of ideas proceeds in
revolutions.
It goes like this.
When enough investigation is done, scholars erect a core paradigm,
off of which they hang their more specialized findings.
All subsequent work conforms slavishly to this paradigm, and something that
contradicts it is presumed to be the mistake of an individual researcher.
Eventually, it reaches such a critical mass of contradictions
that there is a revolution, or, as it is now called, a paradigm shift.
And the old dogma is thrown out in place of a new one.
And there may be some truth to this pattern,
in fields that are unfalsifiable and/or pseudo-scientific.
As far as hard science is concerned, however,
there has been some philosophical conflict in this area that is largely unnecessary.
There is no requirement for a critical mass to overthrow a scientific theory.
The first step after an experiment contradicts a dominant theory is to
confirm whether or not the experiment is suffering from some kind of mistake.
To give a recent example, a few years ago the Large Hadron Collider
appeared to reveal particles that were moving faster than the speed of light,
threatening to overthrow much of our understanding of modern physics.
This made sensationalized headlines all over the world.
But after the data was checked,
it was revealed to be a mistake of the measuring instruments.
If, however, no mistake was make, let's say, no critical mass would be required
before we could confirm the contradiction and start questioning the theory.
That would be absurd.
The dominant theory, and I avoid the use of the word paradigm here,
because that is often used to refer to highly non-scientific modes of thought.
The dominant theory would already be tainted, wounded, and
awaiting revision after one single case of falsification.
A single brown cat.
There is no need for a revolution of brown cats, because the theory is falsifiable.
Thus, one of science's greatest limits is also one of its greatest strengths.
A falsifiable theory does not have to be shouted down, or go out of fashion.
It either fits or it does not.
So what is the use of all this if you are not a scientist?
Well, the scientific method is a valuable tool that can be used in many careers and
walks of life when evaluating complex problems,
not just in conventional scientific fields.
But you must be aware of the limits of science.
Beware the unfalsifiable theory, it is not scientific.
Beware modes of thought dressed up in the language of science.
And above all, remember that the theory or model you construct is not so
much the result of seeking the truth, but ruthlessly hunting down the false.
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