I know this may be hard to believe, but I once got into a silly and unnecessary argument with a former boss over the word "utilize" in a presentation. I knew it was silly and unnecessary as it was happening, but I only have so much control over my pedantry. I am only a man. I ended up giving up, because he was my boss and kind of difficult to work for. Even though it was silly and unnecessary, I still feel bad about it because the meanings of words matter, and utilize is a frequently abused word. It shames me to this day.
Even though I caved in the face of middle-whelming opposition, I still feel strongly about use of words, as you can imagine. I even got into an internet argument in the comments section of The Atlantic once when I was "working from home" (different boss) about inappropriate use of the word socialism. I do care about that, too, but man, correcting randos on the internet about definitions of political philosophy is an uphill battle.
Another word that has been bugging me for quite some time now is how people say the word "science" but rarely seem to know what it actually means. This tweet came across my feed recently and it filled me with that same urge to explain why everyone else is wrong all the time again. The word science has had a sort of quasi-political, semi-chic renaissance. I do not exactly know when or why it started, but its invocation is typically about smugness.
Science is a process by which an hypothesis is identified, an experiment defined and executed, then tested. It is important that the hypothesis is stated before the experiment is defined, to try to expose and prevent bias. The data from the outcome of the experiment is then compared to the hypothesis, and depending on the significance of the experiment, applied in some way, published or just filed away for posterity. The details of the experiment are also defined, so that it can be replicated to be sure that the information is valid. Science is not a body of knowledge. It is a technique to build knowledge. It is not a world view.
One of the places that exemplifies this smugness, besides Neil deGrasse Tyson's twitter feed, is ieffinglovescience. I know that is not its name, but I do not like to use the f word. Looking at the website, it has science memes news, which is nice. Nowhere on the website does the explanation of the Scientific Method appear. The shop is pretty easy to find -- and it supports real science causes! Whatever that means.
NdGT recently tweeted "a subject is scientifically controversial when actively debated by legions of scientists, not when actively debated by the public, the press or by politicians." That is kind of nonsense, because scientists are not priests. There's no magic cape you get to put on (or Van Allen Belt?) when you graduate with a science degree. While my degrees are in Mechanical Engineering instead of physics, I am not a scientist either. But I am at least as qualified as Bill Nye.
This particularly bothers me because it reflects poorly on my profession and associated professions when these people act like insufferable jerks using the logical fallacy Appeal to Authority to support a position they already believed. Which, is antithetical to what science is supposed to be.
