Human Nature in Science

Nobody asked but …

Human experience is not divided only into two epochs, the pre-Copernican and the Copernican.  The change between those two epochs, while extremely critical, did not mark the end of human advancement in self-knowledge.

But to our dismay we continue to hear people put capstones on things that are not finished evolving.  An example would be the phrase, “the science is settled.”  Science is never settled, never has been, never will be.  Science is about asking the next question.  A question such as, “when the Earth changes, as it always does, what scientific knowledge do we need, to be adaptive?” is appropriate.

Before Copernicus, we had a collective view that Earth was at the center of the Universe.  After Copernicus, we knew — gradually, as the evidence accrued — that our world revolved around the Sun.  But by human bias, we seem to believe yet that homo sapiens is at the center of the cultural universe.

We need more cognitive humility.

— Kilgore Forelle