Even science isn’t true

When I started writing this book, my friend asked me for an example of what I consider to be true. I said science. He’s a scientist, so he got a good long laugh and said, “No no no! Science is useful, but not true!” Then he explained.

In the scientific process, nothing is final or complete. No model is “true”. Each one just aims to be less and less wrong. Every conclusion is an invitation to improve it. Scientists learn about existing findings, question them, and try to supersede them. It’s better to be curious than correct. It’s intellectual humility.

Newton’s laws of motion from the 1600s work for most situations. Then Albert Einstein developed the theory of relativity, which showed that Newton’s laws aren’t sufficient. Then quantum mechanics showed limitations in Einstein’s theory. But yet, to land on the moon, or launch a satellite into orbit, we still use Newton’s laws since they’re simple and good enough for that purpose.

The most accurate theory is not always the most useful. And a rule of thumb can be far from true, but good enough to get you where you need to go.