The tragic illusion of science is that the average person assumes that science finds the truth. Nothing is further from the truth. In my mind, science provides a set of tools for gathering relatively objective information about phenomena. The final step of deciding what the data tell us is quite subjective. As it must be. The Bible tells us, in paraphrase, that we “see as through a glass darkly.” (1 Corinthians 13:12) Humans lack the omniscient viewpoint that God provides. Still there is a pervasive trust among us that absolute truth exists.
It is however this persistent assumption that science provides one with the truth of something that clouds the nuances that define reality. Take vaccines for example. Vaccines are developed using scientific methods. Do they work? In the popular press, this is a yes or no question. One answer is they work in some instances. So, what is a parent to do? The answer takes some work to evaluate the data about a particular vaccine and then to make an individual decision about its use. People still seem to want a blanket resolution; vaccines are good or vaccines are bad.
What can we, as scientists, do to help people take a more nuanced view towards decision making?
One aspect of this issue is how the public reacts to research studies that reach different conclusions. For example, there has been recent excitement about possible life on exoplanets. A recent article in the New York Times reported: “A team of researchers offered what it contends is the strongest indication yet of extraterrestrial life, not in our solar system but on a massive planet, known as K2-18b, that orbits a star 120 light-years from Earth. A repeated analysis of the exoplanet’s atmosphere suggests an abundance of a molecule that on Earth has only one known source: living organisms such as marine algae.” (Zimmer, April 2025) This announcement was met with excitement. Then, a month later, this was reported: “Over the past month, [another team of] researchers have independently analyzed the data, which suggested that the planet, called K2-18b, has a molecule in its atmosphere that could have been created by living organisms. Three different analyses have all reached the same conclusion: They see no compelling evidence for life on K2-18b.” (Zimmer, May 2025)
So, is there extraterrestrial life or not? The public seeks an answer. The scientists are still looking. The question has no answer yet; we still don’t know. Even I want the first study to be right and the other guys to somehow be wrong. Nuance can be hard.
Do we teach students about uncertainty? I don’t know if we do but if we don’t, I suggest it be added. They could start with Heisenberg, who asserted that we cannot simultaneously determine the direction and location of an object. We either know where it is going or where it is; but not both. (Uncertainty principle, Wikipedia) Living with ambiguity can become one’s modus operandi.
Adam Kucharski has written about uncertainy in mathematical proofs. He said, “the rigor and purity of mathematics has imbued it with extraordinary rhetorical power… In an uncertain world, it is reassuring to think there is at least one field that can provide definitive answers,” he writes. Yet he adds that certainty can sometimes be an illusion. “Even mathematical notions of proof” are “not always as robust and politics-free as they might seem.” (Szalai, 2025)
In closing, “Gödel thought that the ability to perceive the truth of a mathematical or logical proposition is a matter of intuition, an ability he admitted could be ultimately beyond the scope of a formal theory of logic or mathematics and perhaps best considered in the realm of human comprehension and communication. But he commented, ‘The more I think about language, the more it amazes me that people ever understand each other at all.’” (Truth, Wikipedia)
The Science Circle will hold a continuous Open House during the month of June at its Second Life sim. Please stop by my Demonstration Area to browse the displays and chat with my AI bot, Flicka.
The Science Circle takes a Summer Holiday during July and August. This column will follow suit and will return in September.
Resources
- Astronomers Detect a Possible Signature of Life on a Distant Planet, Carl Zimmer, New York Times, April 2025.
- New Studies Dismiss Signs of Life on Distant Planet, Carl Zimmer, New York Times, May 2025.
- Uncertainty principle, Wikipedia.
- Werner Heisenberg, Wikipedia.
- Just Because You Can Prove It Doesn’t Make It True, Jennifer Szalai, New York Times, April 2025.
- Truth, Wikipedia.
- Kurt Gödel, Wikipedia.
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