Science, Common Sense and Decency

Abstract

We must stress that the article of Dr. Langmuir deals with two entirely different worlds, the physico-mathematical world of exact sciences, where the aristotelian principles do not apply fundamentally; and the human world, still ruled by antiquated aristotelian methods, which are in the main responsible for the present-day tragedies and confusion. It is not enough to contemplate the limitations of the methods of exact sciences. Our work is introductory to that new world in which physico-mathematical methods can be generalized to human problems, where those limitations will be non-existent. --Excerpted from the Foreword by Alfred Korzybski UP TO THE beginning of the present century one of the main goals of science was to discover natural laws. This was usually accomplished by making experiments under carefully controlled conditions and observing the results. Most experiments when repeated under identical conditions gave the same results. The scientist, through his own experiments, or from previous knowledge based on the work of others, usually developed some theory or explanation of the results of his experiments. In the beginning this might be a mere guess or hypothesis which he would proceed to test by new types of experiments. If a satisfactory theory is obtained which seems in accord with all the data and with other known facts, the solution or goal of the investigation was considered to have been reached. A satisfactory theory should make possible the prediction of new relationships or the forecasting of the results of new experiments under different conditions. The usefulness of the theory lies just in its ability to predict the results of future experiments. The extraordinary accomplishments of the great mathematical physicists in applying Newton's laws to the motions of the heavenly bodies gave scientists of more than a century ago the conviction that all natural phenomena were determined by accurate relations between cause and effect. If the positions, the velocities and the masses of the heavenly bodies were given it was possible to predict with nearly unlimited accuracy the position of the bodies at any future time. The idea of causation, or a necessary relation of cause and effect, has long been embedded in the minds of men. The recognized responsibility of the criminal for his acts, the belief of the value of education, and thousands of words in our language all show how implicitly we believe in cause and effect. The teachings of classical science, that is, the science up to 1900, all seem to reinforce this idea of causation for all phenomena. Philosophers, considering many fields other than science, were divided in their opinions. Many went so far as to believe that everything was absolutely fixed by the initial conditions of the universe and that free will or choice was impossible. Others thought that cause and effect relations were mere illusions. From the viewpoint of the early classical scientist, the proper field for science was unlimited. Given sufficient knowledge, all natural phenomena, even human affairs, could be predicted with certainty. Ampere, for example, stated that if he were given the positions and velocities of all the atoms in the universe it should be possible theoretically to determine the whole future history of the universe. Practically, of course, such predictions would be impossible because we could never hope to get the necessary knowledge nor the time to carry out such elaborate calculations. A little later, scientists developed the kinetic theory of gases according to which the molecules of a gas are moving with high velocity and are continually colliding with one another. They found that the behavior of gases could be understood only by considering the average motions of the individual molecules. The particular motion of a single molecule was of practically no importance. They were thus taught the value of statistical methods, like those which insurance companies now use to calculate the probable number of its policy holders that will die within a year. …