The Scientific Method/Criticisms

The scientific method is not without its criticisms. Science has limitations, but most if not all are human in nature and not a fault in the process itself--if that were the case the methodology would simply be improved. The biggest fragility of the scientific process is its reliance on consensual acceptance of results. This in itself does not invalidate the process, but can delay or hinder scientific advance, especially on areas that require complex, costly, or a high degree of verification of data, thus making replication difficult. Other issues to consider are in regards to how scientific knowledge is prone to be adulterated, even subverted, by the way it is disseminated, validated, and funded.

Scientific Delusion

The concept of "scientific delusion" is often proposed as a fault of science. The premise is that science includes a belief that it has a grasp (and the only possible grasp) over reality. While science can validate itself and so only consider the validity of its own conclusions, the idea that science is the end all and be all with regards to finding universal answers, comes not from science itself (since if it had the ultimate word and a conclusive stage the continuity of the process would be broken), but from those that impart on science some of the characteristics of faith (belief without verifiability).

Since science is done by humans (and humans are intrinsically fallible), it, like with any other process, will incur errors of judgment. This is not a fault of the scientific process (science), but of those that misapply it or impart on it characteristics that do not apply. Science is not a belief system, not even a perfect system, but it is nevertheless the best process we have constructed to explore "reality".

Scientific Taboos

This proposal addresses the notion that science has partitioned areas where it does not function or is not applied. Since science is a process, there may be areas within which scientific tests are more difficult to perform, especially in fields at the borders of human knowledge, but these failings are a human limitation, not one of the process of science itself. Society also has an influence in determining (and even dictating) what areas get to be scientifically investigated and which should be avoided--in this science itself has no blame, it is humans that create artificial limitations, or simply are unable to properly devise or accept scientific experiments to validate observations.