Science and the truth

By:  October 5, 2008 Categories: 

In addition to ‘Stats and the truth‘…

I had a great teacher for physics at my secondary school. Apart from the fact he was a total nutjob, he had some great thoughts about different subjects, ranging from religions to camera tripods. Some where just disposable but some where very interesting. Such as his thoughts about science.

In science, you are only making guesses. Estimations. You never quite know if what you have is the truth. For instance, you can count all ferns in the world and realise they’re all green, but you’re never certain. Never. You could never say “All ferns are green.”, because one purple fern, one miserable purple fern would destroy that theory.

This applies to basically everything. You can’t even know if the fridge light is switched off when you close the door!

This even goes well with the quote: “Conclusions happen when you get tired of thinking.”

Latest

Dit is ook China review

Dit is ook China review

I really liked ‘Dit is ook China’ by Cindy Zhu Huijgen. It isn’t a perfect book, but it’s a very nice read. And when you finish it — rather than feeling relieved you’re done — you’re glad you read it, and glad you’re a person who reads books. Before starting, I was a bit discouraged […]
October 26, 2026
Travel plugs

Travel plugs

In our new house, many appliances still get their power through a travel adapter. Eight years in China was long enough to not only put down roots and settle in, but also for everything we owned to end in a Chinese plug: my MacBook, the coffee machine, the rice cooker, the baby monitor. The appliances […]
September 21, 2026
Twenty-three years

Twenty-three years

In June we moved back to the Netherlands, six suitcases across 8000 kilometres, and after a brief spell at my parents’ place, we moved into our own home. This second move also involved putting down carpet, curtains, buying appliances and furniture — so that our new garage quickly filled with cardboard boxes and other packaging […]
August 29, 2026
Searching for meadows

Searching for meadows

Our new home in the Netherlands sits in a mundane residential area full of young families like ours. The street name comes from made (‘meadow’), still referring to a field that once lay here and now survives only in the name (just how the name Shanghai refers to a river that no longer exists). And […]
August 5, 2026