Hacker News Reader

Comment by Rebuff5007 | Hacker News Reader

To produce scientific work, one needs to follow the scientific method. This involves stating a hypothesis, designing an experiment that would test this hypothesis, conducting the experiment with controls, and analyzing the data w.r.t to the hypothesis being tested.

Access to past works is only useful in informing what is a good hypothesis worth testing. And data is only useful when generated by an experiment that is testing for causality (see [1]).

[1] https://pyimagesearch.com/2023/11/27/a-brief-introduction-to...

View on HN

The kind of cargo cult science you describe is the main reason for the replication crisis. The more people believe that they will reach true knowledge by following the sacred rituals to the letter, the more likely they will do things in the established ways without thinking and repeat the same mistakes over and over again.

In actual science, the key step is stopping to question yourself all the time. Does the thing you were planning to do still make sense? Especially in the current context? Given what you have seen so far? Should you change your plans? If so, can the work you have already done be salvaged? Or do you have to discard it and start over from the beginning?

Excuse me, what?! How is this cargo cult science? I literally just described the scientific method. Here it is described on Wikipedia:

> The process in the scientific method involves making conjectures (hypothetical explanations), deriving predictions from the hypotheses as logical consequences, and then carrying out experiments or empirical observations based on those predictions.

The other questions you added are not bad questions to ask if you are practical and resource-constrained, but this is besides the point.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_method

It's cargo cult science precisely because you described the scientific method. Cargo cult science is about focusing on the form without understanding its purpose. Or in Feynman's words:

> So I call these things Cargo Cult Science, because they follow all the apparent precepts and forms of scientific investigation, but they’re missing something essential, because the planes don’t land.

If you are using the scientific method because it's the scientific method, you are doing cargo cult science. The scientific method is a useful tool in a scientist's toolkit, but it's not appropriate to every situation. And even when it's appropriate, it's not a central part of doing science. You can easily fool yourself using the scientific method, if you don't keep questioning yourself and your work.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com