User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Science is based in metaphor

  1. #1
    Points: 665,345, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 85.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialRecommendation Second ClassYour first GroupOverdrive50000 Experience PointsTagger First ClassVeteran
    Awards:
    Discussion Ender
    Chris's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    433322
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    197,560
    Points
    665,345
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    31,988
    Thanked 80,911x in 54,724 Posts
    Mentioned
    2011 Post(s)
    Tagged
    2 Thread(s)

    Science is based in metaphor

    Science is based in metaphor offers a somewhat complex but deep insight into the nature of science.

    Our science is necessarily perspectival and rooted in metaphor. Like maps, these metaphors are useful, but we shouldn't mistake the map for the territory, writes Andrew Reynolds.
    The focus is on realism.

    There is a very common view of science, one is inclined to call it the ‘common sensical’ view, that depicts science as the objective description of reality, telling us what kinds of things there are in the world and how they work. We then apply that objective knowledge to create new technologies and medical therapies and so on.

    ...Some philosophers, however, refer to metaphysical and scientific realism as naïve realism. Why naïve? Because it seems to assume the existence of a pre-Kantian noumenal ‘world-in-itself’, which even if it does exist, we could not possibly hope to describe or know about in its own objective terms. The best we humans can do is to describe reality as it appears to us to be using the contingent linguistic, mathematical, and visual-pictorial terms that make sense to us.
    That borders on postmodernism.

    The philosopher of science Bas van Fraassen has described scientific realism as the thesis that, “science aims to give us, in its theories, a literally true story of what the world is like.” In one sense it is ironic that realism would be described in terms of a story, for narratives are human constructs that rely on a subjective selection of actors and events. Yet it is not so ironic if we recognize that a literally true statement or description is not the same as an objectively true one....
    Back to metaphor.

    This is why the philosopher of science Ernan McMullin said that, “Science aims at ever more fruitful metaphor and at ever more detailed structure.” McMullin was a scientific realist who argued that far from being a hindrance to science’s success, metaphor is a positive contributor. Likewise, the philosopher Mary Hesse showed how important the use of metaphor and analogy is in the expansion of scientific explanation by means of model making.

    ...But metaphor goes beyond mere simile. Whereas simile says A is like B, (which is always literally true in some sense), metaphor asserts an identity: A is B. Simile says DNA is like a code and the genome is like a computer program; metaphor says DNA is a code and the genome is a program. And as a consequence of accepting (or entertaining) the identity asserted through the metaphor, it is only natural that we then attempt to extend it, for instance, by editing the code, to reprogram how cells operate and thereby switch off the cancerous ones....
    On to post-realism...but you'll have to follow the link to red about that....
    Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire. ― Gustav Mahler

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to Chris For This Useful Post:

    midcan5 (05-27-2021)

  3. #2
    Points: 143,788, Level: 91
    Level completed: 21%, Points required for next Level: 2,862
    Overall activity: 76.0%
    Achievements:
    Social50000 Experience PointsOverdriveVeteran
    carolina73's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    43664
    Join Date
    Sep 2019
    Posts
    57,501
    Points
    143,788
    Level
    91
    Thanks Given
    56,073
    Thanked 43,669x in 28,255 Posts
    Mentioned
    154 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Science has frequently been incorrect in the past.
    This era is the first time that I have seen science being defined by outright lies for political purposes.
    A Metaphor may be used to help describe science if they think the message is going to their intellectual inferiors and therefore showing their arrogance. It also can be used in a deceptive manner by the user. It will attempt to describe one characteristic as dominant. A is like B because they both merely have one thing in common is not necessarily going to be true.

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to carolina73 For This Useful Post:

    Chris (05-26-2021)

  5. #3
    Points: 34,652, Level: 45
    Level completed: 47%, Points required for next Level: 798
    Overall activity: 2.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialTagger First ClassVeteran50000 Experience Points
    midcan5's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    71955
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Posts
    5,953
    Points
    34,652
    Level
    45
    Thanks Given
    1,333
    Thanked 2,497x in 1,841 Posts
    Mentioned
    301 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    IAI is an excellent site.
    Wanna make America great, buy American owned, made in the USA, we do. AF Veteran, INFJ-A, I am not PC.

    "I have never made but one prayer to God, a very short one: 'O Lord make my enemies ridiculous.' And God granted it." Voltaire

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts