Category Archives: Scientific method

The Denialism Frame

Posted on April 21, 2016 | 641 comments

by Andy West

An inadequately testable and inappropriate framing.

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641 Comments

Posted in Scientific method, Skeptics

Insights from Karl Popper: how to open the deadlocked climate debate

Posted on January 28, 2016 | 654 comments

by Larry Kummer, from the Fabius Maximus website.

Many factors have frozen the public policy debate on climate change, but none more important than the disinterest of both sides in tests that might provide better evidence — and perhaps restart the discussion. Even worse, too little thought has been given to the criteria for validating climate science theories (aka their paradigm) and the models build upon them.

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654 Comments

Posted in Attribution, Scientific method

On distinguishing disbelief and nonbelief

Posted on January 9, 2016 | 401 comments

by Judith Curry

It is important to distinguish between disbelief and nonbelief– between believing a sentence is false and merely not believing it true. 

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401 Comments

Posted in Scientific method, Skeptics, Sociology of science

How scientists fool themselves – and how they can stop

Posted on October 14, 2015 | 259 comments

“Science is an ongoing race between our inventing ways to fool ourselves, and our inventing ways to avoid fooling ourselves.” – Saul Perlmutter

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259 Comments

Posted in Scientific method, Sociology of science

The adversarial method versus Feynman integrity

Posted on August 12, 2015 | 168 comments

by Judith Curry

If you think about the costs I’ll pay for raising these concerns, including the cost of damaged relationships with people that I like, I think you will conclude that a personal commitment to science is the only thing that could be big enough to offset these costs. – Paul Romer

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168 Comments

Posted in Ethics, Scientific method

The method of multiple working hypotheses

Posted on May 21, 2015 | 232 comments

by Judith Curry

With this method the dangers of parental affection for a favorite theory can be circumvented. – T.C. Chamberlin

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232 Comments

Posted in Scientific method

What would Charles Keeling think? Science in spite of politics

Posted on January 13, 2015 | 466 comments

by Judith Curry

Perhaps my experience in studying the Earth, initially with few restrictions and later with increasingly sophisticated interaction with government sponsors and various planning committees, will provide a perspective on this great transition from science being primarily an intellectual pastime of private persons to its present status as a major contributor to the quality of human life and the prosperity of nations. – Charles Keeling

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466 Comments

Posted in History, Scientific method, Sociology of science