• CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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    18 days ago

    You can probably see how actual statistics are useful for policy or public discussion, though, right?

    We aren’t going to fix any big picture problem by leaving it up to the businesses pedaling whichever product. Like, you wouldn’t apply that to an oil well, would you?

    • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      18 days ago

      I can see how politicians and bureaucrats would prefer statistics, but I don’t believe that’s a good source for public policy myself, no.

      • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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        18 days ago

        And priests prefer faith. How do you think it should work?

        If you’re against science as a concept maybe I shouldn’t even bother.

          • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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            17 days ago

            I don’t particularly have a comment on this specific piece of research (which is why I asked for a good alternative). What does science mean to you exactly?

            • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              17 days ago

              this is literally the final for a 400-level philosophy course. i’m not going to be writing a 5-page essay here. i can characterize my own beliefs as an approximation of other’s though. i tend toward karl popper and other critical rationalists.

              i think this question is too much to ask outside of a purely academic environment, and honestly don’t want to deal with it here. is there another question you think you could ask that would actually be answerable in a succinct way and tell you what you want to know about my perspective?

              • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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                17 days ago

                It is a big question. For myself, somewhere in those five pages, it has to relate to things that are measurable. If you’re against measurement, you’re against science.

                • commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  17 days ago

                  It is a big question. For myself, somewhere in those five pages, it has to relate to things that are measurable. If you’re against measurement, you’re against science.

                  oh, of course, yes. testability. disprovability. this is the crux of critical rationalist critiques.

                  • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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                    17 days ago

                    Cool. I never took a 400-level philosophy course. A quick look on Wikipedia suggests it’s not against measurement or theory, just certainty. That’s fine, I don’t believe in certainty. Maybe a black swan comes along, but until then, it’s not bad to say swans are white.

                    If you’re not a postmodernist or something I’m not sure why, rationally, you would object to measuring the land footprint of animal husbandry as a concept.