science
"The fuel on which science runs is ignorance. Science is like a hungry furnace that must be fed logs from the forests of ignorance that surround us. In the process, the clearing that we call knowledge expands, but the more it expands, the longer its perimeter and the more ignorance comes into view. . . . A true scientist is bored by knowledge; it is the assault on ignorance that motivates him - the mysteries that previous discoveries have revealed. The forest is more interesting than the clearing."
"Science is like religion in that lay people who do not have access to science are compelled to accept via faith what scientist say. To NOT accept facts of science in our current culture is a sign of insanity."
"Science is like being in a dark room and looking for a switch. The light will reveal a cat... if there is one."
The linked article breaks down and
criticizes this analogy.
"Science is like well-woven, ever-expanding fabric, designed to (un)cover Nature's secrets. This course emphasizes the strong connections between subfields of science, showing it as the never-ending and greatest detective story ever told, with evidence always the arbiter. These characteristics are exhibited in the semi-historical treatment of three themes: unveiling the universe, the earth and its fossils, and the story of life."
"I've read this a few times and read the comments here, and I *think* I understand what you're saying. Science is like a map of reality, a way of understanding reality, and different but complimentary to that is the sensory/emotional experience of human reality? A "map" and experience are different things with different "goals" but both are necessary in life? And it seems to you that too many people focus primarily on the mapping part while neglecting the experience part? Is that the basics of what you're saying?"
"Science is like this hot chick whose naked body you once caught a glimpse of, but who has been hiding in a burqa ever since. You're not sure if there's even a women inside anymore."
See the video in the link
Broadly, science is an intellectual loop or maybe a circuit. It starts with observation; it starts with that which can be seen, touched, smelt, heard or measured with instrumentation. These inputs, are then made sense of with a theoretical assumption about why these things are the way they are. But it can work in the other direction; a scientist can have a theoretical assumption that is validated or invalidated by empirical observation. It works both ways. You can not have science with just observation and you can not have science with just theories. Observation and theory COMBINED are what make this intellectual process as powerful as it is.
"Science is like magic where you understand the magic,"
"Science is like a stream of water, because it finds its way," said Susan Fisher, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco. "And now it has found its way outside the United States."
"Bad religion is arrogant, self-righteous, dogmatic and intolerant. And so is bad science. But unlike religious fundamentalists, scientific fundamentalists do not realize that their opinions are based on faith. They think they know the truth. They believe that science has already solved the fundamental questions. The details still need working out, but in principle the answers are known."
This is fantastic article that must
be read by those who care about this kind of stuff.
"Bad science gets rewarded in the short-term (i.e. published) then is ignored and thus ultimately excused much like the bad behavior of the kid in Target whose temper tantrum earns him a slushy. Mom or dad are too busy, too distracted, too unmotivated, too fill-in-the-blank to address the dreadful performance and thus it gets a pass and remains a regular feature of the kid's behavioral repertoire."
"I am afraid you are their wet dream: a girl who can understand what they're talking about, and doesn't look down on them merely for being geeky. Being a science geek is like living in a cage without bars, a cage that separates you from the opposite sex. You've gone into the cage and you're waving raw steaks in front of starving lions."
"The science establishment is like the medical model - sterilized white suits with unchallengeable answers sent down to us from sacred Mount Know-It-All. Until they're disproven. Time and again."
METAMIA is a free database of analogy and metaphor. Anyone can contribute or search. The subject matter can be anything. Science is popular, but poetry is encouraged. The goal is to integrate our fluid muses with the stark literalism of a relational database. Metamia is like a girdle for your muses, a cognitive girdle.