I mean this is exactly what I think Noah is talking about, this impulse to give credit to expertise and say if something improved in society it's because a bunch of smart people got together and planned it, which is much less common than people think
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yes! we think, "scientists figured out germ theory so people invented indoor plumbing," when in fact it's more like, "people long wished for better indoor plumbing because shit smells, and managed to get it at about the same time as germ theory developed"
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This is a weirdly anti science take from people on the left. “Poop smells” is less compelling a case for change than “we’re all gonna die of germs if we don’t get sanitation.”
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Replying to @TWLadyGrey @nberlat and
How is this anti-science? It’s a description of how things happened and tend to happen.
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Replying to @TheWeaseKing @nberlat and
Because it’s painting one of the marvels of modern discovery as a random happenstance.
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Replying to @TWLadyGrey @nberlat and
No one said that though. They said that we did things without knowing precisely WHY they worked that way, but that it seemed to work- and that we worked out why later.
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Replying to @TheWeaseKing @TWLadyGrey and
Another example: People knew about infection by contact with the infected for thousands of years prior to germ theory being proved.
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Replying to @TheWeaseKing @nberlat and
Semmelweis was trying to convince doctors to wash their hands in the 1850s!
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Replying to @TWLadyGrey @TheWeaseKing and
right, but through trial and error I believe, not because he had a well developed understanding of germs.
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Replying to @nberlat @TheWeaseKing and
I think we are crossing plots here. My assumption is a 19th century doctor was aware of how the scientific method works and it probably shaped his thinking.
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Yeah and that's a bad assumption
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Replying to @TWLadyGrey @arthur_affect and
based on basically the entire last 40 years at least of history and philosophy of science research! these are not controversial arguments we're making!
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