Limits of the scientific method

[firecat]

"The Truth Wears Off: Is there something wrong with the scientific method?" by Jonah Lehrer

...all sorts of well-established, multiply confirmed findings have started to look increasingly uncertain. It’s as if our facts were losing their truth: claims that have been enshrined in textbooks are suddenly unprovable. This phenomenon doesn’t yet have an official name, but it’s occurring across a wide range of fields, from psychology to ecology.

Comments

[lilacsigil]

I like this article very much, because it proves we're not smarter than people of previous generations - we just have more theories which have had less time to be thoroughly tested. The people in medical trials for specific condition, for example, are often people who cannot get drugs any other way or who are the sickest, because their doctors will get them enrolled in a desperate bid to help them. Hooray, great results! Then it goes out to the general populations and results decline as moderately and mildly sick people (and misdiagnosed people) use the same drug in large numbers. Even in the last few years, I remember Zyprexa being the magical wonder drug - the truth is that it works extremely well for some people, moderately for some, and poorly for others, just like all wonder drugs!

[firecat]

the truth is that it works extremely well for some people, moderately for some, and poorly for others, just like all wonder drugs!

Very good explanations for why this happens with medical treatments, yeah.