Belief in science?

[grumbler]

No, I doubt that those who use the phrase "believe in science" do so in the meta sense of "belief" rather than the dictionary definition of the word.

Indeed.  Belief does, in fact, have many meanings, depending on context.  "I believe in the gods" is a different use of belief than is "I believe that i will have a cheeseburger" or even "I believe Al Gore will win the election."  I don't think the phrase "I believe in science" has any semantic meaning.  Even "I believe in evolution" is logically dodgy, since "evolution" isn't really a thing; evolution can be any one of a number of theories, or a process, or an outcome of a process.  None of these are really subject to "belief" in the sense of "I believe in the existence of the Old Testament God."

If one finds oneself in the position of arguing whether or not there is an equivalency between "science" and any particular religious belief, one is in the wrong discussion.

[Razgovory]

  I think Viking suspect this is all a clever trap to make him look the fool.

No, I doubt that those who use the phrase "believe in science" do so in the meta sense of "belief" rather than the dictionary definition of the word.

Why?

[Viking]

  I think Viking suspect this is all a clever trap to make him look the fool.

No, I doubt that those who use the phrase "believe in science" do so in the meta sense of "belief" rather than the dictionary definition of the word.

Why?

Are we there yet?

[Malthus]

'I believe in science' in the sense that I believe that the scientific method is, at least so far, the best available way to generate and test knowledge.

It doesn't mean I believe any particular bit of knowledge derived by that method is absolutely true. Indeed, the whole point of the scientific method is to continually question and test the current state of knowledge.

[Razgovory]

Not yet.  There are those who like science not because it's a useful method of inquiry that provides facts and accurate predictions but because they can use it as a fetish to drive away the "fundies" like a witchdoctor might use a ju-ju bag to drive away evil spirits.  People who like Darwin not of his careful observations and theories but because slapping a Darwin sticker on the back of their car makes them feel smart.

[Viking]

'I believe in science' in the sense that I believe that the scientific method is, at least so far, the best available way to generate and test knowledge.

It doesn't mean I believe any particular bit of knowledge derived by that method is absolutely true. Indeed, the whole point of the scientific method is to continually question and test the current state of knowledge.

this is where it gets a bit axiomatically tricky and we decend into solopsism. The scientific method applies to itself. If you understand it you can't believe in it.

[Razgovory]

'I believe in science' in the sense that I believe that the scientific method is, at least so far, the best available way to generate and test knowledge.

It doesn't mean I believe any particular bit of knowledge derived by that method is absolutely true. Indeed, the whole point of the scientific method is to continually question and test the current state of knowledge.

I don't think belief is the correct word here.  I have a door, I don't believe in the door.  I can understand what it's made of and why it's there and accept the truth of the door, but it's not really a belief.

[Malthus]

'I believe in science' in the sense that I believe that the scientific method is, at least so far, the best available way to generate and test knowledge.

It doesn't mean I believe any particular bit of knowledge derived by that method is absolutely true. Indeed, the whole point of the scientific method is to continually question and test the current state of knowledge.

this is where it gets a bit axiomatically tricky and we decend into solopsism. The scientific method applies to itself. If you understand it you can't believe in it.

The best available way so far. Not the best way.

[Legbiter]

Ray Kurzweil is waiting to be uploaded into a virtual heaven. A lot of Silicon Valley tech geeks seem to be on similar quests.

[The Brain]

Ray Kurzweil is waiting to be uploaded into a virtual heaven. A lot of Silicon Valley tech geeks seem to be on similar quests.

They're on dial-up?

[Maximus]

I would say belief could be used as a term of trade, in some sciences at least, as a probabilistic analog to knowledge.

Basically belief is the probability that a given fact is true in a given model, given what I know.

Still, under this definition "I believe in science" doesn't really make sense.