{"id":385,"date":"2009-09-30T13:01:04","date_gmt":"2009-09-30T13:01:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apagansblog\/2009\/09\/why-its-so-hard-to-admit-error.html"},"modified":"2009-09-30T13:01:04","modified_gmt":"2009-09-30T13:01:04","slug":"why-its-so-hard-to-admit-error","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/09\/why-its-so-hard-to-admit-error.html","title":{"rendered":"Why It’s So Hard to Admit Error"},"content":{"rendered":"

A great piece on why it is so difficult to convince people
\nby using reason and evidence has just appeared in Atlantic Magazine ‘s online
\nsite.  <\/span>Lane Wallace’s The Uncommon
\nNavigator <\/a>
\nis well worth reading by all Pagans – and by everybody else.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n


\n
I  have often thought my personal encounter with the Goddess,
\nand with various so-called paranormal phenomena has made me a better social
\nscientist.  <\/span>The reason is that I
\nhave been convinced by those encounters that I will never figure the world out.  <\/span>So any theory, and explanation I come
\nup with, is at best a decent approximation until we know more.  <\/span>In other words, compared to what we
\nwill know later – or even what other people may know – it is WRONG, or missing
\nkey elements others might grasp.<\/p>\n

Many people will grant this intellectually, but the
\nimportant point is to feel its truth in your gut. Once I did I felt a lot less
\ntense encountering what might turn out to be disconfirming evidence and
\narguments.  <\/span>Rather than threats to
\nmy reality, they helped me understand that reality better.<\/p>\n

This insight made it easier for me to apply the real
\ncontribution science has made to understanding – a contribution many people seem
\nnot yet to understand.  <\/span>Science grew
\nbecause it provided a way for people to eliminate error, not to find Truth.  <\/span>We see patterns everywhere – but only some are meaningful.<\/p>\n

A experiment gives an explanation a chance to
\nfail.  <\/span>So does a measurement or
\na prediction.  <\/span>It is still our
\nresponsibility to admit to the error, and that is hard.  <\/span>But at least science is built on
\npropositions that can be tested, and might fail.  And if it fails, there is another explanation out there to be discovered that will do a better job.<\/p>\n

To those who devote their lives to seeking truth this might
\nsound like “then why try.”  <\/span>I don’t
\nthink so, and I continue trying. 
\n<\/span>There are degrees of wrongness, and some of what we now know to have
\nbeen wrong were enormous steps forwards in their time.  <\/span>We know Isaac Newton was wrong
\nregarding the nature of space and time – but even now his work can still get us
\nto the moon.  <\/span>Newton’s is only the
\nmost impressive example.  <\/span>So it’s
\ndefinitely worth our while trying to figure things out, but it’s stupid to ever
\nthink you or anyone else has.<\/p>\n

I am reminded of what a retired physicist said when
\nasked  <\/span>if knowledge were a monopoly
\nboard, and we were on a square, where did he think we were.<\/p>\n

Just past “Go” was his answer.<\/p>\n

Happily, some of the same experiences that demonstrated my
\ncomplete inability to ever really comprehend how things work also demonstrated
\nto me the fullness and power of love. 
\n<\/span>So the best take I have is that while we will never figure the world
\nout, we can figure out how to live I it I 
\n<\/span>a good way, by applying love, compassion, and generosity in our own
\nlives, and in our dealings with others human and nonhuman. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A great piece on why it is so difficult to convince people by using reason and evidence has just appeared in Atlantic Magazine ‘s online site.  Lane Wallace’s The Uncommon Navigator  is well worth reading by all Pagans – and by everybody else.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,108],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-385","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-and-technology","category-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy It's So Hard to Admit Error - A Pagan's Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apagansblog\/2009\/09\/why-its-so-hard-to-admit-error.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why It's So Hard to Admit Error - 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