4.9 KiB
[D][Q] Mad science or mad engineering?
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Author: u/puesyomero The Culture*
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URL: https://www.reddit.com/r/rational/comments/3gcwah/dq_mad_science_or_mad_engineering/
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Score: 7
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Created: 2015-08-09T15:42:56
Post:
in a previous post @mhd-hbd mentioned the difference between them, and made me realize the last time I saw a control group in fiction (rational or not) was on HP & methods of rationality amongst very few. how can one portray good science in a rational story and not bore the readers?
Comments:
u/Chronophilia [+10] sci-fi ≠ futurology (an hour later)
The Mythbusters had the right approach. Form a hypothesis, perform an experiment to test that hypothesis, and then blow something up.
u/derefr [+11] (3 hours later)
That is indeed science-in-the-small (empirical investigation), but not quite "Science"-as-we-know-it. "Science" (the academic institution) usually implies large studies that you can extract statistically-significant trends from, for one thing. ("Science" also implies replications by disinterested third parties, but that's more of a fault-tolerance mechanism, which can be discarded if you just need suggestive correlations to e.g. point an R&D department toward promising directions.)
I might point to Orochimaru in Team Anko as an actual example of a "mad Scientist."
u/eaglejarl [+7] (a day later)
I might point to Orochimaru in Team Anko as an actual example of a "mad Scientist."
Why, thank you.
u/DCarrier [+7] (4 hours later)
u/puesyomero [+1] The Culture (9 hours later)
indeed
u/mhd-hbd [+1] Writes 'The World is Your Oyster, The Universe is Your Namesake' (4 days later)
Am inspiration, can confirm.
u/Transfuturist [+4] Carthago delenda est. (12 hours later)
Mad science is unethical experiments. Mad engineering is unethical inventions.
As for empirical investigation, Jason Shiga's FLEEP and more recent DEMON are very good examples, both in regard to science and unethics.
u/gabbalis [+5] (21 hours later)
Of course you can use mad empiricism to correct previous failures in your mad designs as a mad engineer, but that's hardly mad science. It's not really the sort of thing you would write a mad thesis about. At least not one that would be publishable in a mad peer reviewed mad scientific journal.
u/Farmerbob1 [+5] Level 1 author (a day later)
Most science outside of classrooms these days is difficult to comprehend without a whole can of alphabet soup behind your name.
If you want to have an interesting rational story with lots of action and real science in it, science with meat on it's bones, then back things up a couple centuries and explore the science of the early industrial revolution. There was plenty of adventure in science then.
You can do it with modern science too, but it's easier if you go back to a time when people were trying to define the most basic principles.
u/ancientcampus [+1] juggling kittens (4 days later)
As I've heard, electricity-scientists considered it a point of professional pride to be able to gauge the strength of a current by feel.
u/Farmerbob1 [+2] Level 1 author (4 days later)
Eh, electricians still do that today, with the backs of their hands. The strength of the muscle reaction will tell you roughly how much power is in the lines. You do not try it on lines capable of carrying enough to fry you, or if you are well-grounded. Don't try this at home, kids. Just because I've known a few electricians that did it when I worked in a steel mill doesn't mean they were entirely sane.
u/ancientcampus [+3] juggling kittens (2 days later)
Girl Genius has a great comic with a mad social scientist.
u/Chronophilia [+2] sci-fi ≠ futurology (4 days later)
u/mhd-hbd [+1] Writes 'The World is Your Oyster, The Universe is Your Namesake' (4 days later)
Holy shit you found it. Girl Genius is terrible to search in.
Yes, this is a prime example of mad experimentation.
u/ancientcampus [+2] juggling kittens (4 days later)
I found it because I had that one bookmarked. ;)
u/FuguofAnotherWorld [+2] Roll the Dice on Fate (a day later)
Have someone else do it, include a bit where they got the scientific method wrong and it is pointed out, then make that mistake cause something very large to explode at a dramatic time. It's a little contrived though.
u/AFoxOfFiction [+1] (8 years later)
This SNL sketch brought me here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0NgUhEs1R4