The Climate Cargo Cult
22 hours ago Guest Blogger 179 Comments
By Julius Sanks
“In general, we look for a new law by the following process. First we guess it. Then we compute the consequences of the guess to see what would be implied if this new law that we guessed is right. Then we compare the result of the computation nature, with experiment or experience, compare it directiy with observation, to see if it works. If it disagrees with experiment it is wrong. In that simple statement is the key to science. It doesn’t make any difference how beautiful your guess is. It does not make any difference how smart you are, who made the guess, or what his name is — if it disagrees with experiment it is wrong.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIxvQMhttq4— Dr Richard Phillips Feynman, Nobel Laureate, The Character of Physical Law (1999)
You can watch him making the point here.
Would that we had Dr Feynman’s ethical approach today! His thinking about the scientific process went beyond comparing theory with experiment. He was also well aware of other ways science could go wrong. In 1974 he gave the CalTech commencement speech. He titled it “Cargo Cult Science.” This speech is arguably the greatest speech on science ever presented. Why? Because in it, he examines completeness. Sadly, I have not found a video of him presenting it.
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2024/02/26/the-climate-cargo-cult/
