• CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    edit-2
    3 months 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
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      3 months 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
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        edit-2
        3 months 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
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            2
            ·
            3 months 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
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              3
              ·
              3 months 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
                link
                fedilink
                English
                arrow-up
                2
                arrow-down
                1
                ·
                edit-2
                3 months 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
                  link
                  fedilink
                  English
                  arrow-up
                  2
                  ·
                  3 months 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
                    link
                    fedilink
                    English
                    arrow-up
                    1
                    ·
                    edit-2
                    3 months 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.