The Rules We Follow
How do we come to these opinions we have? There are a few rules that we'd like to briefly outline here.
Rule #1. We Believe that Reality is Real
We begin from the assumption that what we all go through each day is reality. There is no solution to the problem of hard solipsism, so we must agree that we live together in a universe that we all experience in much the same way. There is no “supernature,” or at least no possible way to know of one if there is. If something can be measured, it is part of nature, and if you are claiming it’s outside of reality, then it can’t be measured. If something is purported to exist outside our shared reality, it goes straight to the Bullshit Bin.
Rule #2. We Take Care that What We Believe is True
The fact that a belief has been demonstrated to be true should be the only reason to hold that belief. We want to hold true beliefs rather than false ones. True beliefs conform to reality which help us make better decisions. We continue to hold these true beliefs even if they make us uncomfortable, scared or anxious. Beliefs held for other reasons get hefted right into the Bullshit Bin.
Rule #3. We Believe that Logic, Reason and Science are the Best Ways to Discover
the Truth
Logic, reason and science are the tools everyone uses everyday to determine that things are both real and true. Logical conclusions are both valid and sound. Scientific conclusions are tentative positions held on the best available evidence. Reason is the process by which we use and evaluate these conclusions. It is unreasonable to accept a logical argument that is not valid and sound. It is also unreasonable to dismiss a scientific conclusion that presents an emergent truth based on solid evidence. Arguments that are illogical or fallacious, beliefs that are unreasonable, or ideas that are unscientific will get tossed directly into the Bullshit Bin.
Addendum to Rule #3
It is entirely possible for a bad argument to present a true conclusion. If we said “Jenny McCarthy is a big stupid dum-dum, therefore vaccines don’t cause autism,” we would be supporting a true statement with a terrible argument. A fallacious argument doesn’t mean that the conclusion isn’t true, just that the argument doesn’t entail that conclusion, and is therefore unconvincing, and if you’re trying to convince us of something we don’t believe, you’re going to have to do better than that, or to the Bullshit Bin you will go.
Rule #4. The Time to Believe Something is True is When There is Evidence to Support it
We begin to accept claims, beliefs and ideas as true when there is supporting evidence and not a minute before. Asking us to accept any claim without evidence is pointless, and it will get softly lobbed into the Bullshit Bin.
Rule #5. Not Everything That Claims to be Science is Science
Science is a body of knowledge describing humanity’s best current understanding of the world around us. More importantly, it is the method (set of methods, really) that is used to come by the knowledge in that body. Science, at its core, is simply observing the natural world, from the smallest particles to the largest astronomical structures. The methods of science are designed to ensure that such observation minimizes bias and the risk of human error or misinterpretation. Optimally, scientific discoveries are replicable and replicated, and if the initial finding was wrong, the error will be corrected. Scientific hypotheses must be falsifiable, and experiments testing them are attempts to falsify, rather than verify, them. Perhaps most importantly, extraordinary claims (those that are extremely unlikely given current scientific understanding) require extraordinary evidence.
There is a lot of stuff claiming to be science that doesn’t align with the above paragraph. Sometimes methods are shoddy, opening things up to human error. Sometimes hypotheses are unfalsifiable, as demonstrated by Carl Sagan’s “Dragon in the Garage” analogy, and these, while potentially true, are useless in science and as explanatory models. Sometimes a “rogue” or “maverick” scientist claims that their tiny little experiment overturns decades or centuries of scientific understanding, which just ain’t how it works. If something claiming to be science doesn’t meet the standards of science, it’s safe to call it pseudoscience and dump it into the Bullshit Bin.
Rule #6. All Knowledge is Tentative...But That Doesn’t Mean We Flip on a Dime
The nature of science is to self-correct, which means that all facts are always under a sort of Sword of Damocles. If new, well designed experiments show we were wrong and they are solidly replicated, then, well, we were wrong, and the scientific body of knowledge gets updated. Any conclusion must be open to revision as new evidence comes to light. But it must be good evidence. For further understanding of what we think is good evidence, see above. We’re not going to change our beliefs based on weak evidence or some lame emotional appeal. That kind of stuff gets hurled right into the Bullshit Bin.
