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Originally Posted by Joe Durnavich
Refinements in scientific description do not move us closer to reality. That is just a metaphor.
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"Reality" is a metaphor too. Does understanding what that word means "move us closer to reality"? What do you even mean by that sequence of words? In short: word = metaphor, get over it! (I'm not being critical, just pointed.)
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Rather, we get better at achieving something.
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Indeed, we get better at achieving an understanding of our reality via using models. Of course the endeavor has limitations.
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I see science not as creating a simpler version of reality, but as discovering the simpler aspects of reality.
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What is the essential difference between "discovering" and "creating something that works"? I think you'll be hard pressed to split that hair meaningfully.
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An elliptical planetary orbit has circular aspects. Science discovers those and teaches us how we can in some circumstances treat an elliptical orbit as a circular one.
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But circles and ellipses are both creations of our minds. "Reality" doesn't include either of them.
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What exists here are: Maxwell, cells, wheels, and electrical devices. There is no model.
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Huh? Quite a few textbooks are going to be very surprised to hear that they are just paper and ink and nothing else.