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/sci/ - Science & Math

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4506796 No.4506796 [Reply] [Original]

Why should I love science? obviously if your on this thread you find something beautiful in it. I want to hear it. hopefully I can find some reason to agree with you. show me the light sci/

>> No.4506811
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4506811

bump. so why do you love it? the reason I'm asking is because I'm trying to find some way to enjoy it. I know I am just opening myself up to scrutiny and ridicule for admitting this, but I don't care. sometimes I can find it a little uncomfortable. cold, even. so tell me reasons why it is still beautiful. i recognize it's capacity for objective truth. that's not what I mean. I understand man can progress in his understanding of the physical universe, more powerful technologies, etc. I also recognize this is an emotional affirmation, not an intellectual one. Why should I love it?

>> No.4506822

bump

>> No.4506835
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4506835

No man has ever been to Alpha Centauri. But we know it's 4 light years from Sol. How? We've never taken a tape measure to it. We've never watched the spedometer as we fly a cruiser there and back. Hell, we haven't even seen it as anything more than a speck of light. Telescopes are not that powerful. So where does our knowledge come from?

There is a concept known as parallax. As the Earth is in a different position in summer and winter, we would expect that nearby stars appear in a slightly different position vis-à-vis distant stars. This isn't a new idea, the Greeks considered it too. This was one of the reasons they rejected the heliocentric model - if the Earth moved around the sun, the stars should appear to change position from winter to summer. But they couldn't see any change in position, and hence concluded that the Earth must be in the centre.

Today, however, we can measure the positions of stars precisely enough to detect this parallax. We can, using the magic of trigonometry, combine these observations to estimate the distance to any star within a radius of some 300 light years. All without ever leaving our home.

And I find this amazing. I don't give a shit about the results, it is the method that intrigues me. We know what's in side stars. HOW? Have you been inside a star? Has anyone? Yet by looking at some spectrum lines we can infer what elements get in the way?

Whoah, man. Whoah.

>> No.4506851

>>4506835
perfect. but what about the condition of humanity? I don't think it would be an understatement to say that the more we know, the harsher things seem for mankind. at once it was believed that each living being was protected by some vague force. now it's like I feel that even though the universe is beautiful and profound, it's cold. I feel saddened by the fact that I am human, and that I've seen some highly mentally unstable people around me fall for certain beliefs because they needed to preserve their own sanity. they could not handle the profound darkness. how can I reconcile this? again I know this is not an intellectual post. I just want some help from someone who can help

>> No.4506857
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4506857

>>4506851

Yeah, I feel the same way. This is how I deal with it. You should try it too.

>> No.4506860

>>4506857
haha yeah it's not working it. I might just fall in

>> No.4506873

>>4506851
Science is amazing. It has let humans live for roughly 20 years to roughly 80. It sent us to the moon! I don't find it cold – I find it inspiring. The more I learn about it – and the more we, collectively, learn about it – the more I am awestruck at its beauty.

Just a few hundred years ago, people were afraid of using the first automobiles for fear of what going above 20 mph would do to the human body. Fifty years ago, we went to the moon in merely three days.

The more we know, the more we grow.
The more I learn, the more I yearn.

>> No.4506883

>>4506873
haha yeah I agree. I should have been more clear. In scientific inquiries that take you to dark places, that devalue the existence of humans, and seem to point out horrifying truths about life on earth, how do you see the light? is their an atheist perspective on this? a deist perspective? something else?

>> No.4506891
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4506891

bump.

>> No.4506912

does this ever cross anyone else's mind?

>> No.4506917

>>Why should I love it?

Its not something you SHOULD love. It can or it cannot fascinate you but there is a lot of things in the world that can do the same. And science is made of many branches, you may have a passion for chemistry, math, physics - for example i am an EE who dont feel interested about neurology, i just dont like it, and there isnt a problem in that.

>> No.4506920

>>4506917
yeah like I feel a sort of discomfort at the prospect of promoting a theory. idk why. I really enjoy inventing things, however

>> No.4506923

>>4506920

Maybe you would felt in love with engineering. I am an EE how really gets excited talking about the things that i know and the things that i do in engineering, but the same thing dont happen when i talk about science.

>> No.4506926

>>4506923
haha yeah I think I am falling in love with it. I just feel it's more creative. your free to think anything, unregimented, even considered insane by some, as long as what you create has a functional design. I'm free.

>> No.4506927
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4506927

Power.

>> No.4506929

>>4506796
Don't know, I know that I thought science was the most uninteresting thing ever until the last year of high school when you actually started learning a bit, when things started to come together and it wasn't just putting shit in formulae. Same with maths.

Maybe you'll enjoy it more if you get a bit further, if you already have it might not be for you.

>> No.4506956
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4506956

>>4506796

>> No.4506978

>>4506956

Physics is like sex: sure, it may give some practical results, but that's not why we do it - Feynman

>> No.4507002

>>4506978
To hold how much we do over strangers?

>> No.4507005

>>4507002
hahahahah

>> No.4507012

Nam et ipsa, scientia potestas est.

>> No.4507038

>>4507012
power is good. but what say those who feel an impulse to pursue scientific understandings? describe your impulse

>> No.4507109

Is it accurate to say that if one hates science, they hate truth?

>> No.4507126

>>4506835
>Sol
Seriously I dare you to find a recent published English article which uses "Sol". You can't it is not recognised nomenclature, the sun has one English name the "Sun".

>> No.4507131

>>4507126
"Sol" is in reference to our solar system

>> No.4507157

>>4507131
Well it isn't a recognised name. You can't pick and chose Latin names.

>> No.4507164

>>4507038
Curiosity. Wanting to know more, the beauty of it all.

>> No.4507178

>>4506883

Care to elaborate a little more? what do you mean by "devaluating human existence" or horrifying truths?

remember, science is only a way of gathering and evaluating information. It is not a religion. It does not tell you how to live your life or what your opinion should be. Science delivers the facts, but what you make of them is still your sole responsibility.

>> No.4507190

>>4507178
your right. I suppose Im speaking from my own discomforts. for example: I find many things about love, beauty, comfort inside your own head - to be devalued in a way once you accept many modern day scientifically based belief systems, like anti-anthropocentrism, which I'm fine with, but things that suggest that everything I've ever felt, thought, been. every powerful moment of catharsis, or pain - all chocked up to biochemical, psychological, irrelevant phenomena. haha like the universe is lecturing me perpetually. don't get me wrong, I love life at times, and find our science's progress brilliant and profound. but this is what I feel and I can't control it.

>> No.4507207

>>4507178

>horrifying truths
>ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn
>mfw cthulhu

>> No.4507224

I love proofs in maths. Its a nice feeling when you understand the fundamental reasons why something is the way it is. And there are so many quirky results in maths that appear beyond the subject that can actually be solved, for example the hairy ball theorem, which to someone like me who hasnt done topology looks completely impossible to even approach but which is apparently not too hard. Also mathematical curves and fractals and things like conformal mappings and the results of say fluid dynamics simulations and other mathematical objects are just weirdly beautiful and perfect to me:
http://www.rotorbrain.com/foote/interactive/hacks/ConformalMapping.html

Also you feel like a fucking boss when you actually pull of a proof yourself.

>> No.4507281

>>4507224
do you think this is more of an aesthetic thrill? like looking at art? or a logical thrill? I'm trying to guess at which part of your brain is doing what