/sci/ - Science & Math

[Anonymous No.5674313]

Why do geosciences not receive the same kind of attention as others? I mean it is arguably the most pertinent subject we humans will ever have to deal with, at least in the "short term", considering our very limited life span, and it is comprehensive in that it involves mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology. I would also argue that it is the most important system to understand because we have to deal with it on a daily basis. It is also the most complex system considering all the different variables which act on it which makes it worthy of more attention. Am I wrong?

[Anonymous No.5674373]

First time /sci/ has not responded to a question of mine within 5 minutes.

[Anonymous No.5674381]

>>5674373
>First time /sci/ has not responded to a question of mine within 5 minutes.
Ahaha, I almost responded when you first posted the thread but realized I didn't really have much to say.

>it is comprehensive in that it involves mathematics, physics, chemistry,
agreed
>and biology
well... ok, maybe, what more have you to say about that last one?

>It is also the most complex system considering all the different variables which act on it which makes it worthy of more attention.
Human biology/physiology/anatomy is not competitive for complexity?

>I mean it is arguably the most pertinent subject we humans will ever have to deal with, at least in the "short term", considering our very limited life span.
Seems contradictory given that the geological timescale is generally taken to be very much different than that of a human life.

Interesting topic, I just don't know shit about it, that's why I didn't respond at first (then your second post made me feel bad about it, bravo manipulator.)

[Anonymous No.5674397]

>>5674381
I argue that biology has influenced the system in that oxygen would not be on this planet had it not been for the evolutionary leap of the creation of cyanobacteria. Granted cyanobacteria would not be on this planet had it not been for the degassing of CO2 caused by the differentiation of early earth. Also, when I say geosciences I don't strictly mean long term geologic time scale (which is know doubt the main factor which has controlled everything leading up to the present day), but also meteorology and soil science and other very short term geo related subjects. Also thank you for responding

[Anonymous No.5674404]

To your second point, I would argue that it is the most complex system to understand in that you can have no control test subject. If you want to break humanitarian rules... you experiment and test all you want with biology. That is not possible with a planetary body (yet). Therefore I think Earth will remain very mysterious long after the mystery of life has been figured out.

[Anonymous No.5674477]

Geoscience deserves more attention than the speculation of particle physics IMO. Let's figure out how our shit, that we live with everyday, works before we figure out how everything else works.

[Anonymous No.5674537]

If I asked a stupid calc 2 question or something regarding the speed of light, this thread would light up, lol.

[Anonymous No.5674549]

>and it is comprehensive in that it involves mathematics, physics, chemistry, and biology.

And other branches of science do not? Biomedicine involves all those things, too.

> I would also argue that it is the most important system to understand because we have to deal with it on a daily basis.

What about the human body? I would argue that the medical sciences are more important, especially for the short term. I have every respect for the geosciences, but biomedicine has immediate advantages for humans whereas geosciences often do not. Most people don't care about what layer of rock originated when.

Geoscience is underappreciated partly because it's not as exciting, mysterious and novel as particle physics (explosions! quantum mechanics! yeahhh!) or as relatable and personal as biomedicine (because it's about your own body).

[Anonymous No.5674559]

>>5674549
Please see the previous discussion before you respond, particularly in a /sci/ thread.

[Anonymous No.5674562]

>>5674559
>complain several times about not getting any responses
>someone responds
>complain

wow hey you sound like a swell fellow, okay we should just shut this thread down now, everything is already discussed apparently

[Anonymous No.5674567]

>>5674562
Sorry man. That's just my point, people don't even know what geoscience means..... or appreciate it.

[Anonymous No.5674573]

>>5674567
So tell us why we should care. What makes geoscience so good? You never even answered my question: What makes it more important than, say, biomedicine? What benefits have the geosciences contributed to humanity?

[Anonymous No.5674574]

GEOLOGY AND THE GEOLOGIC TIMESCALE DOES NOT MEAN GEOSCIENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Anonymous No.5674578]

>>5674573
Agriculture, climate, energy, everything that your biology needs to exist.

[Anonymous No.5674579]

>>5674573
well, for a start it told us the age of earth using several different methods, all agree on ~ 4.6 billion years. Instead of some biblical fuck of 6k years.

So there are huge ideological problems wich geosciences helped resolve.
But I'm not OP. Let him continue.

[Anonymous No.5674584]

>>5674578
I would argue that energy is more of a physics and engineering problem.

>>5674579
Sure, but you can say the same thing about the more esoteric branches of particle physics(eg string theory and whatnot) and astronomy, and neither of those tend to have much of an impact on daily life. Proving the Bible wrong doesn't make a science useful yet.

[Anonymous No.5674588]

>>5674584
>Sure, but you can say the same thing about the more esoteric branches of particle physics(eg string theory and whatnot) and astronomy, and neither of those tend to have much of an impact on daily life.
Well besides the fact that these branches spawn a hole lot of spin-off-technologies, just like NASA did. I still would count

>Proving the Bible wrong doesn't make a science useful yet.

as *very* useful. It helps understand our place in nature, brings down oversimplistic, arrogant views of humanity on itself and therefore leads to more reasonable behaviour in all fields where decisions are to make.

The last statement ofc is true for all kind of "enlightening" activities, not only bible-bashing.

[Anonymous No.5674589]

>>5674584
Your argument is silly. Of course physics had something to do with it. Physics is involved in everything. Yet we are focusing on Earth physics.... or geoscience. Also engineering is just a tool to best manipulate the properties of natural science, geoscience included.