Daniel Lakens

The continued existence of parapsychology as a scientific discipline tells you something about the strong attraction some scientists have to anything that opposes common sense or logic.

Even at a more modest level than parapsychology, anyone defending claims that oppose common sense in science will attract a following. It is baked in the reward structures of science.

Mar 1, 2023 at 6:29amMastodon for Android
Show threadOliver D. ReithmaierMar 1, 2023
@lakens thin ice reasoning here tbh. "Common sense" is malleable (historcally quite clear) and logic has limits (c.f. Gödel, and other constrictions), which imposes certain limitations on scientific discovery if used as benchmarks.
In any case: If we cannot allow inquiry of claims that have no known knowledge base, we are lost. Ultimately, if we are who we say we are as scientists, we need to allow the dubious stuff to fail in order to mark it as such. Otherwise, it has the potential to actually harm science reputation. Homeopathy is a really good example for this.
Show threadDaniel LakensMar 1, 2023
@odr_k4tana It is malleable, of course - I would guess that is one of the appeals, believing you are working on that one thing where you sill prove the rest of the world's common sense wrong. And some do - I am not saying no one should study these things. I am mainly saying the are rewarded and appreciated much more than they should be.