We think of science as a noun, in reality it is a verb, a
process. The scientific method is a codification of a specific technique of
handling and processing information. This method involves meticulous
documentation of observations, and clear transparent analysis.
More than the individual scientist performing the experiments,
it is the integrity of this process that we as a society hold sacrosanct.
Because it is this process that ultimately allows us to derive an understanding
of our world, which remains consistent from one experimenter to another.
Our relationship with our scientists is fundamentally
different from the one we have with our prophets and philosophers. Yes, we have geniuses of science, and we do
venerate them, much the same as we have elevated our prophets and philosophers.
There is though an important difference in the way we bestow our adoration; we
expect them to earn it. Unlike our prophets and philosophers from whom we
expect no accountability, our scientists have to subject themselves and their
work to repeated scrutiny. Only after their observations, analysis and
conclusions have been repeatedly tested by others, can any scientist expect to be
taken seriously.
The scientific method also changes how we handle
intellectual disputes. Thanks to the scientific method, we don’t end up with five
different interpretations on the basic principles of physics. We have a universal
set that is the same for all human beings. There will always be ongoing puzzles
and disagreements in physics, but unlike the disagreements in secular and
religious philosophy, such disagreements in science do not condemn us to an
endless purgatory of fragmenting camps. Everyone knows that the different
theoretical camps in science are essentially ephemeral. They can only exist
until the final evidence is in. Once all the evidence is in, the theory that
wins becomes universally accepted and the others are discarded.
Now imagine if we could do for moral information, what we
have been able to do for physics. Imagine if we could have a moral theory that
is not different from philosopher to philosopher, or prophet to prophet.
The scientific method gives us the hope of something we have
never had. It gives us the hope of someday finding a moral theory that is the
same for all of humanity.
