Hello, Smeraldine. Welcome to “Science”.
I like you definition of a scientists. Imho, science is a process of philosophical comprehension of interconnections and interrelationships between Man and Nature. It is also the result of this process.

It essence of science is, that no question is too stupid to be asked and no answer is forbidden to be considered; all that you need is strong evidence to back the answer up.

You may notice my signature has a quote from Carl Sagan; he was a man with a childlike curiosity combined with a very questioning attitude, thus he was a successful scientist and a great explainer of the philosophy of science.

without science the world would not have moved ahead.we would still be eating raw meat otherwise.
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david
Christian Drug Rehab

Are you pro-science or anti-science? Raw meat isn't necessarily bad or fire terribly scientific.

Observation of natural wildfires:

1) By standing not too close and not too far away, one can stay comfortably warm when air is cold.
2) Fire is found only on wood or grass.
3) Fire consumes wood or grass.
4) Fire seems to spread to new wood when in contact.

Experimental verification: place more wood on fire and observe that fire always spreads to new piece of dry wood or grass.

Hypothesis: Heat can be obtained by keeping fire “alive” in a non-combustible area.

Experimental Verification: Carry burning stick to cave and feed it with new wood.

Further observation of natural wildfires:

5) Meat from some animals killed by fire is good—tasty, juicy, and easy to chew.
6) Meat from some animals killed by fire is not good—tastes like bitter old wood, no juice.

Hypothesis: Just the right exposure to fire makes meat good.

Experimental verification: put meat on stick next to fire and see what happens. Remove meat when juicy. Enjoy.

Conclusion: “Science” is a natural process of the human mind—at least for some human minds.

My definition of science is this: The pursuit of fact through observation and the use of these facts and observations to gain knowledge.

I can't object to your definition if we have a common understanding that "facts" are not immutable truths (as a certain habitue of the Religion forums thinks), but merely what is commonly agreed to be--at this point in time--the best explanation for all of our observations. "Facts" when defined this way can change based on new observations.

By the way, I like your tag-line quote, “God is a metaphor for that which transcends all level of intellectual thought. It's as simple as that. Joseph Campbell”. It is a statement that you can (metaphorically speaking) turn over in your hands and look at from many different directions.

Yes I meant fact with a small 'f'. Fact with a capital 'F', in my opinion, belongs more with philosophy, where it is called 'Truth.' I think there's a line in one of the Indiana Jones movies along similiar lines.


Although I don't agree with some of Campbell's conclusions, I still think he had some good things to say about the history of religions and their cross-pollination.

Science extends and enriches our lives, expands our imagination and liberates us from the bonds of ignorance and superstition.It is the systematic enterprise of gathering knowledge about the universe and organizing and condensing that knowledge into testable laws and theories.
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Nickysam