physicists are bad philosophers

H

Hume

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My hunch is that it is at least partly because physicists are bad philosophers. Scientists’ opinions, whether they realize it or not (and whether they like it or not), are imbued with philosophy. And many of my colleagues — especially those who argue that philosophy is irrelevant — have an idea of what science should do that originates in badly digested versions of the work of two twentieth-century philosophers: Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn.

www.nature.com

Why bad philosophy is stopping progress in physics

Theoretical physicists are in thrall to a misguided mindset that allows viable ideas to be advanced only by overturning what already exists.
www.nature.com www.nature.com
 
Hume said:
My hunch is that it is at least partly because physicists are bad philosophers. Scientists’ opinions, whether they realize it or not (and whether they like it or not), are imbued with philosophy. And many of my colleagues — especially those who argue that philosophy is irrelevant — have an idea of what science should do that originates in badly digested versions of the work of two twentieth-century philosophers: Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn.

www.nature.com

Why bad philosophy is stopping progress in physics

Theoretical physicists are in thrall to a misguided mindset that allows viable ideas to be advanced only by overturning what already exists.
www.nature.com www.nature.com
Click to expand...
Why post threads about something that you don't understand????
 
It almost sounds like modern researchers are scrambling to find the next big "breakthrough" (thereby ensuring their career and legacy) and, like the flood of new papers that come out with each passing day to fulfill the "publish or perish" mandate, new hypotheses are puked out and tested.

I liked the author's comment that seldom have arbitrary hypotheses led to new discoveries, rather the need to explain new data has led the charge.

I don't doubt most physical scientists eschew philosophy at their peril, but as the author noted, their work is imbued with philosophy and logic so they can't get away too far.
 
Science is mostly philosophy to begin with, beginning with sets of definitions, and empiricism is a moral prerequisite for testing philosophical proposals. Theories and data are subsets.
 
EdwinA said:
Science is mostly philosophy to begin with, beginning with sets of definitions, and empiricism is a moral prerequisite for testing philosophical proposals. Theories and data are subsets.
Click to expand...

They did used to be called "natural philosophers"! :)
 
Hume said:
My hunch is that it is at least partly because physicists are bad philosophers.
Click to expand...
Science is not philosophy, Hugo, though it is defined by it.
You don't even know what philosophy is.
Hume said:
Scientists’ opinions, whether they realize it or not (and whether they like it or not), are imbued with philosophy. And many of my colleagues — especially those who argue that philosophy is irrelevant — have an idea of what science should do that originates in badly digested versions of the work of two twentieth-century philosophers: Karl Popper and Thomas Kuhn.

www.nature.com

Why bad philosophy is stopping progress in physics

Theoretical physicists are in thrall to a misguided mindset that allows viable ideas to be advanced only by overturning what already exists.
www.nature.com www.nature.com
Click to expand...
Philosophy is not a book, Hugo.
 
EdwinA said:
Science is mostly philosophy to begin with, beginning with sets of definitions, and empiricism is a moral prerequisite for testing philosophical proposals. Theories and data are subsets.
Click to expand...
Science is not philosophy, Edwina.
Philosophy is not 'sets of definitions'.
Philosophy is not empiricism.
Philosophy is not morals.
Philosophy is not theories.
Philosophy is not data.
 
Into the Night said:
Science is not philosophy, Edwina.
Philosophy is not 'sets of definitions'.
Philosophy is not empiricism.
Philosophy is not morals.
Philosophy is not theories.
Philosophy is not data.
Click to expand...

You meant to say you prefer making up your own definitions and ignoring anything else.
 
Into the Night said:
Science is not philosophy, Edwina.
Philosophy is not 'sets of definitions'.
Philosophy is not empiricism.
Philosophy is not morals.
Philosophy is not theories.
Philosophy is not data.
Click to expand...

You really don't know anything about this topic. So why do you feel it important to show everyone all the time?
 
Hume said:
My hunch is that it is at least partly because physicists are bad philosophers.
Click to expand...
Physicists are the best philosophers.

Hume said:
Scientists’ opinions, whether they realize it or not
Click to expand...
Science is not subjective and contains no opinions.

Karl Popper was not only spot on, his take on science and on testing are now the de facto norm throughout global industry and governments.
 
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