Science in Short: (dis)Prove It!

Some days it seems like no matter where you go on the internet, friends and foes of science are arguing about whether or not evolution should be taught in public schools. Lately, the squabble has been making new rounds on YouTube (I’m not sure it ever stops or starts, but bear with me) and today the internet bestowed an important and valuable reminder upon us: What science is.

When it comes to science, creationists seem to love the word ‘theory.’ It doesn’t trouble science-lovers; we know it just means there’s more science to be done, and like GLaDOS, we never want to stop testing. Theories, that is. But where science does its best work in the presence of the currently identified limits of human understanding, the creation camp seems bent on harping about doubt. The conversation often wanders into this strange frontier before the comments go up in flames: “If a thing can’t be proved, then it must be taken on faith. The theory of evolution and others like it make science no more valid than any religion. If anything, theories make science less valid because, unlike religion, they aren’t written in stone. What kind of belief system evolves every time it finds something new?”

There is a fundamental problem with that line of reasoning. Well, there are a few problems with it, but for starters, science isn’t a system of beliefs. Science is a system of study. I could go about this on at length, but I think Ross Exton explains it very elegantly in his video, below: What Is Science?