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0 pointsakvadrako4y ago0 comments

Science cannot provide definitions, like of what consititutes life.

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So when scientists talk about evidence of life on Mars, or the possibility of life on other planets, they don’t have a scientific definition for that?

tptacek4y ago

You pounced on their use of the word "life", but of course the question here is "human life", not "life" in general, and that's a term that does not simply mean live human cells, and does not have a straightforward scientific definition the way "life" does (at least, not when used in the sense it's used in the abortion debate).

akvadrakoOP4y ago

But life doesn't have a straightforward definion either.

Are viruses alive? What about robots? Or cities? Or earth?

It's a philosophical question and not something that can be decided by experiment.

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akvadrakoOP4y ago

Definitions are just assumptions and can differ for each paper. They come from convention or philosophy, not science itself.

akerl_4y ago

“Definitions are just assumptions” is pretty tautologically false.

Science at its core aims to define things: hypotheses are proposed and proven/disproven in search of pinning down clearly defined rules and patterns.

Is gravity just an assumption that differs for each of us?

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rayiner4y ago

So when scientists talk about evidence of life on Mars, or the possibility of life on other planets, they don’t have a scientific definition for that?

tptacek4y ago

akvadrakoOP4y ago

But life doesn't have a straightforward definion either.

Are viruses alive? What about robots? Or cities? Or earth?

It's a philosophical question and not something that can be decided by experiment.

1 more reply

akvadrakoOP4y ago

Definitions are just assumptions and can differ for each paper. They come from convention or philosophy, not science itself.

akerl_4y ago

“Definitions are just assumptions” is pretty tautologically false.

Science at its core aims to define things: hypotheses are proposed and proven/disproven in search of pinning down clearly defined rules and patterns.

Is gravity just an assumption that differs for each of us?

1 more reply

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse