Do you think the latest astronomical discovery undermines the belief that scientists really know everything...

Question

... about how the universe was formed? When you look at the hypotheses - i.e. dark matter, dark energy, the Higgs field - don't you sometimes feel like scientists are trying to make it seem as if they "know" everything about the universe? When, a discovery like this http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/070823_huge_hole.html comes along, don't you wonder if maybe they don't know as much as they claim to? I am totally for science, and I think it is one of the greatest endeavors of humankind. I just feel somtimes like there is little room for new theories or thoughts about some things - like the formation of the universe - because scientists present ideas like The Big Bang as facts - not hypotheses, and I think this sometimes stifles new discoveries. What are your thoughts on this?

Answer 1

Scientists learn more all the time. This is called progress.

I think you are right that science is often presented improperly as a bunch of facts rather than as a body of knowledge and ideas which grow and change all the time. This shouldn't be threatening to people.

I don't think this is the fault of scientists as much as it is the fault of those who write news stories and TV shows.

Answer 2

>...the belief that scientists really know everything...

I don't know who holds that belief. Certainly scientists don't!

>...don't you wonder if maybe they don't know as much as they claim to?

Again, it's usually not the scientists themselves that make that claim. If you listen to the actual words spoken by the scientists themselves, they are usually very careful to avoid making statements that they can't solidly back up. They tell you the experimental results, and will tell you how those results fit in with one theory or cast doubt on another. Usually (I've found), it's the media who then jump to conclusions, not the scientists.

>... I just feel somtimes like there is little room for new theories or thoughts about some things - like the formation of the universe - because scientists present ideas like The Big Bang as facts - not hypotheses, and I think this sometimes stifles new discoveries....

I think you'll change your mind if you read up on the history of astronomy in the 20th century. It has changed and advanced tremendously (seemingly at an ever greater pace as time goes on), and this pace of change just would not have happened if scientists were in fact stifling new discoveries.

When I was a kid:
There was no such thing as dark matter;
The Big Bang was highly regarded but there were some serious questions about it (mostly answered since then);
Nobody knew the expansion of the universe was accelerating;
Nobody knew for sure whether black holes really existed.

A lot has changed even in my lifetime. This could only happen because scientists are always skeptical of each others' (and their own!) ideas, and always willing to change their minds. It's usually non-scientists who take what they hear as absolute unchangeable truth.

Answer 3

Real scientists are the first to admit that they don't know everything (if they did, there would be nothing left for them to find out, and they'd be out of a job!). However, science is presented to the public (through the media and in school) in a way that makes it seem like science (and therefore scientists) have all the answers.

I'm not a scientists, although I teach college science classes. I'm always fascinated by new discoveries, especially the ones that shake things up a little. It's exciting where there are paradigm shifts in science! And when I realize that scientists don't have all the answers, that they don't know everything, it makes me feel better about myself not knowing everything, too.

By the way, a little semantics: the Big Bang is a theory, not a fact, and certainly not a hypothesis. A hypothesis is an educated guess, while a theory (in science, at least) is a set of ideas or models or equations or whatever that have been *well tested* and generally accepted by the scientific community to be the best available explanation of observed phenomena.

Answer 4

Please don't chastise. Astronomy is based upon observations and interpreting those observations. I would like to know who is presenting the Big Bang as a fact. I do not know of an astronomer who does not welcome new discoveries. That's what astronomy is all about. Your attacks have no basis. It would be the same as me mocking a geologist who said that a layer of material in a cliff was called sandstone. Astronomers attempt to interpret data upon pre-existing knowledge so that we can progress with our understanding of the universe we live in. That is not stifling. There is nobody telling you what to believe and what not to believe. Astronomers could really care less if you want to believe that the Sun revolves around the Earth. They will be happy to look at your evidence. If your evidence stands up, then your theory will be supported and will become the new standard. Maybe you can propose a better system for humans to aquire knowledge.

So astronomers found a region of empty space... astronomers do not disdain such discoveries- they WELCOME them. There is no need for you to feel intimidated by scientists. They are not some group telling you what to believe. All they are trying to do is to help ALL of us to understand things better. They do not try to pretend to know everything. On the contrary, scientists would be the group of people who realise how little they and we know. That's why they search for answers.

Answer 5

When's the last time you spoke to a reputable scientist or read a reputable scientific journal? Very rarely will you find scientists using phrases like "I know..." or "we know...". You'll more often find that they speak in terms of "Latest findings suggest..." or "Based on the evidence, we believe...".

Any scientist worth his or her salt fully understands that science is an ongoing process of asking, learning, understanding, refining, revelation, asking, learning, understanding, refining, revelation, etc.

The Big Bang theory is not a hypothesis. It is a theory. Those words have very specific meanings in science. They are not just ideas. When a theory is supported well enough, it is generally accepted as fact. That doesn't mean that every scientist goes around screaming, "The Big Bang is fact!" It means nearly all evidence supports the theory and there is no competing theory supported well enough (by data, mathematics, and evidence) to refute it.

So far, the "latest findings" don't undermine much of anything. They add to the understanding.

Answer 6

Science dosn't claim to have "all the answers". The latest discovery of a gigantic "void" in space, 1 billion light years across (no stars, gas, dark matter, Nothing.) Has posed some interesting questions for astrophysicists. I'm sure there is an explanation, or two, in the pipeline as I write.

Answer 7

I'm not a scientist myself, but I think there's no problem if someone comes up with an alternative for the big bang. The biggest fact is that nobody does, and the big bang theory is pretty firm.

Answer 8

True scientists do not present theory as fact. Science researches and investigates possible ideas. There is noone claiming to be all knowing, except perhaps Al Gore, who is not a scientist.

Answer 9

i do think that scientists word their "findings" wrongly and that in school my teachers teaach me about the way the world was created and both religious and science teachers disagree completely! i think that they should be named as hypothesises because no one will ever know how the world came about. I dont believe that one minute there was nothing and then the next everything. Its one of those questions where if there is a meaning to life we will find out at the end of ours, but if not then its time wasted. live for the future i say and learn from the past but dont dwell!

Answer 10

I think it proves that all theories are just that. Theories.
This latest information proves the big bang theory to be incorrect, and it does nothing to rely information that religious people can solidly use either.
I love seeing people run around yelling that they have the corner on common sense, just to have something like this slap them in the face.

If anything, this should prove that we all have a right to our opinion, but not one has the right to say they have a fact that everyone else must accept.

Just wait, more WILL be revealed.