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#philosophyofscience

1 post1 participant0 posts today
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Scientific Advice Mechanism

Helsinki’s 12–13 June 2025 workshop marked the first international Philosophy of Science Advice gathering, hosted by the Finnish Academy and the Scientific Advice Mechanism. Experts debated ethics, legitimacy, stakeholder values, and funding to strengthen scientific advice in democracy. scientificadvice.eu/events/phi

#Science4Policy#PhilosophyOfScience#EthicsInScience
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Androcat

Ever get the feeling, when learning about something really complex, that you're trying to reach an understand that it just beyond your grasp?

It is quite obvious that the human brain, if narrowly focused enough, and given good enough perceptions, could make sense of pretty much any natural or artificial system.

Not as conscious knowledge, but as instinctual understanding, getting the predictions as gut feelings rather than as analyzable information.

Visceral, not cerebral.

In this light, monotropism could be seen to be an evolutionary counterpart to science. A drive to focus on narrow topics, to build intuitive understanding by hooking the brain to the topic directly, at a much lower level than conscious thought.

@actuallyautistic @philosophy

#Monotropism#Observation#science
Continued thread
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Strypey

Here's one way of expressing Illich and Latour's challenges to modernism, as interpreted by Cayley;

The Science(TM) is modernism's totalitarian claim of unchallengeable correctness. But the sciences are not so much bodies of certain knowledge, as ways of finding and mapping the limits to what we know, and what can be known. Undermining and eroding any and all systems of totalitarian certainty, in favour of contingent if/then claims.

#science#PhilosophyOfScience
Replied in thread
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Bhavani Shankar 💭
@tomcapuder @cbontenbal Interesting. I think science definitely has a chance of making up something useful but we need a huge leap of faith to think it arrives at the truth.

Science keeps discarding things that were thought to be real like electric, heat fluids, luminiferous ether etc. We can make an inductive argument that it'll continue - the world as described by science will keep changing and therefore it is not real.

Multiple (sometimes incompatible and infinite) theories and interpretations exist which give the exact same phenomenon. The one accepted by science is based on luck - the first to make novel predictions.

We are stepping into the realm of the unobservable in advanced physics like string theory. Should we discard these pieces or update the definition and methods of science?

Success of scientific investigation is based on luck too. For example, billions of years in the future the light from other galaxies will be undetectable. But human records from today will say they observed many galaxies. Which one should the future humans believe?

So I don't think it's just "mental masturbation" to open our minds to other (potential) sources of knowledge. That's how we progress and enjoy life. 😄

#science #philosophy #philosophyofscience #physics #metaphysics
#metaphysics
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SRF IRIS

IRIS Insights I Nico Formanek: Are hyperparameters vibes?
April 24, 2025, 2:00 p.m. (CEST)
Our second IRIS Insights talk will take place with Nico Formanek.
🟦
This talk will discuss the role of hyperparameters in optimization methods for model selection (currently often called ML) from a philosophy of science point of view. Special consideration is given to the question of whether there can be principled ways to fix hyperparameters in a maximally agnostic setting.
🟦
This is a WebEx talk to which everyone who is interested is cordially invited. It will take place in English. Our IRIS speaker, Jun.-Prof. Dr. Maria Wirzberger, will moderate it. Following Nico Formanek's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. We look forward to active participation.
🟦
Please join this Webex talk using the following link:
lnkd.in/eJNiUQKV
🟦
#Hyperparameters #ModelSelection #Optimization #MLMethods #PhilosophyOfScience #ScientificMethod #AgnosticLearning #MachineLearning #InterdisciplinaryResearch #AIandPhilosophy #EthicsInAI #ResponsibleAI #AITheory #WebTalk #OnlineLecture #ResearchTalk #ScienceEvents #OpenInvitation #AICommunity #LinkedInScience #TechPhilosophy #AIConversations

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Michael Nagenborg (he/him)

If you are aware of curious and critical students looking for a unique interdisciplinary #MSc Programme which combines #PhilosophyOfTechnology, #PhilosophyOfScience, #EthicsOfTechnology, #HistoryOfTechnology and #STS , please point them to #Philosophy of #Science , #Technology , and #Society. At the Open Day, they learn about our dedicated tracks on #TechnologyAndValues (in collaboration with 4TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology), #AI , and #Sustainability. utwente.nl/en/education/study-

Poster for the Open Days on March 20th at the University of Twente. You can see a colorful image of a person with a cybernetic hand. The colours are pink, purple and black. It looks a bit cyber-punk-ish. The text says: Visit us at the Master Open Day! MSc Philosophy of Science, Technology, and Society. March 20th, 18:45-19:45, University of Twente
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Lupposofi

Dominic Murphy has revised his SEP-entry on Philosophy of Psychiatry, plato.stanford.edu/entries/psy

The Angius, Primiero & Turner entry on The Philosophy of Compurer Science has also been revised, plato.stanford.edu/entries/com

Other SEP-news here, as usual, plato.stanford.edu/new.html

plato.stanford.eduPhilosophy of Psychiatry (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
#sep#philosophy#filosofia
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Jan R. Boehnke

Not totally full of surprises, so shout-outs to
@jasemrau @DanielleVossebeld and @lffontenelle 😊 👋

Thanks to @ottaross and @md for local tips for #Ottawa and #Cologne! ❤️

If you are interested in #HistoryOfScience #PhilosophyOfScience #ResearchEthics with a strong focus on #Psychology, @NulliusInVerba is often thought-provoking.

And apparently I am interested in bicycles in The Netherlands 😂
@fietsria

Not much traffic on the other accounts anymore.

#ThisWas2024
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Oliver Brendel

Hello, thanks to everybody who has welcomed me so warmly. Many of you were curious about my research. Perhaps look at this paper (OA) :
link.springer.com/article/10.1
and which follows the understanding of the relationship between plant growth and water consumption from the old Greek philosophers, through the middle ages, the age of enlightenment to the use of modern measurement techniques.
So it’s about #HistoryOfScience #ScienceHistory #PhilosophyOfScience #PlantEcoPhysiology

SpringerLinkThe relationship between plant growth and water consumption: a history from the classical four elements to modern stable isotopes - Annals of Forest ScienceKey message The history of the relationship between plant growth and water consumption is retraced by following the progression of scientific thought through the centuries: from a purely philosophical question, to conceptual and methodological developments, towards a research interest in plant functioning and the interaction with the environment. Context The relationship between plant growth and water consumption has for a long time occupied the minds of philosophers and natural scientists. The ratio between biomass accumulation and water consumption is known as water use efficiency and is widely relevant today in fields as diverse as plant improvement, forest ecology and climate change. Defined at scales varying from single leaf physiology to whole plants, it shows how botanical investigations changed through time, generally in tandem with developing disciplines and improving methods. The history started as a purely philosophical question by Greek philosophers of how plants grow, progressed through thought and actual experiments, towards an interest in the functioning of plants and the relationship to the environment. Aims This article retraces this history by following the progression of scientific questions posed through the centuries, and presents not only the main methodological and conceptual developments on biomass growth and transpiration but also the development of the carbon isotopic method of estimation. The history of research on photosynthesis is only touched briefly, but the development of research on transpiration and stomatal conductance is presented with more detail. Conclusion Research on water use efficiency, following a path from the whole plant to leaf-level functioning, was strongly involved in the historical development of the discipline of plant ecophysiology and is still a very active research field across nearly all levels of botanical research.
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