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A New Vision Emerges At Last – Science’s Looming ‘Tipping Point’
It is essential in these exuberant times to pay critical attention to both the observational constraints and to the basic mathematical laws, with a clear sense of what is solid theory and what is only unsupported speculation. This seeming platitude is offered here without jest, because at the present time there are ‘theories’ – scenarios sometimes quite detailed – seriously and often passionately held, for almost every exotic astronomical object that is not resolved in the telescope. In contrast, the one star that can be properly resolved – the pedestrian Sun – exhibits a variety of phenomena that defy contemporary theoretical understanding.
— Eugene N. Parker
A ‘tipping point’ in science is supposed to happen when the weight of evidence against a theory tips the balance of opinion against it. But we are dazzled in this space age by computer-generated ‘virtual reality’ and the sheer technological brilliance of applied science. So it can come as a surprise to be told that modern theoretical science is in crisis. Today’s inverted science pyramid rests on the mathematics of imaginary particles and energy described by an acausal quantum theory that no one can explain. Occasionally, the more candid scientists admit they don’t understand basic phenomena like mass, gravity, magnetism, lightning, galaxies and even the Sun!
So it is not surprising that planets, stars and galaxies are being discovered that ‘shouldn’t exist’ and most of the visible universe seems to be a mere impurity overwhelmed by mysterious ‘dark matter’ and ‘dark energy.’ In its role as a consensual belief system today’s ‘settled science’ is now confronted with surprising contradictions more frequently than they can be fitted to the dogmas. And because the fundamental mysteries persist unrecognized, Nobel Prizes are awarded for purely imaginary discoveries in physics. The weird nature of those discoveries should serve to warn us that science is at a tipping point of unparalleled magnitude.
Dysfunctional Science
Science is at a tipping point because, having fragmented into specialties and sub-specialties, it is no longer equipped to deal with falsifying data. The barricades of technical jargon and self-serving politics prevent the specialists from seeing what would be all too obvious from a higher vantage point. Such a system is averse to outside challenges by ‘those who transcend the conventional,’ and leading authorities feel free to ignore them.
Of course, before the modern barriers went up, crucial scientific contributions were accepted from many ‘outsiders’ like William Herschel and Michael Faraday, those who “may be free of current dogmas and prejudices, able to see the world with fresh eyes.” [Albert Einstein] Few universities have shown the courage to insist on a broad and balanced picture of present knowledge or an even-handed comparison of theoretical assumptions and available alternatives. To apply such basic standards today would risk discrediting entire departments.
Source: http://philosophers-stone.co.uk/wordpress/2014/09/a-new-vision-emerges-at-last-sciences-looming-tipping-point/
