Comment by thomasfedb

Comment by thomasfedb 6 months ago

5 replies

Nothing is ever “proven”. There is simply more or less support for a theory or proposition.

Replication and meta-analysis are an important part of this.

Most scientists are in fact very conservative with how they claim their results - less so university PR departments and “study shows” clickbaiters.

blix 6 months ago

I wish this comment was more representative of my personal experience in science.

Instead I got PIs happy to say that weak evidence "proved" their theory and to try suppress evidence that negatively impacted "fundablity". The most successful scientists I worked with were the ones who always talked like a PR puff piece.

  • jxjnskkzxxhx 6 months ago

    What field, may I ask?

    • blix 6 months ago

      Applied physics. I'd prefer not to get too specific. Most of my peers are working for the US DoD or DoE now.

      • jxjnskkzxxhx 6 months ago

        I wonder if what you described is due to the money incentive?

        I did theoretical physics (no money) and my experience totally matches what the other person described.