FREE ESSAY ON DO WE HAVE TO LEARN TO THINK SCIENTIFICALLY IN ORDER TO FIND THE TRUTH?

DO WE HAVE TO LEARN TO THINK SCIENTIFICALLY IN ORDER TO FIND THE TRUTH?

Humanity has been searching for the truth since the beginning of time. This search has
produced many things like science, which has greatly advanced the cause that created it.
There are many inherent problems in science, and it is not necessary to think
scientifically in order to find the truth. There are many types of truth, but the most
fascinating one is absolute truth. The basics elements of science, however, make it
almost impossible for science alone to find this kind of truth. There are many other
tools at our disposal that can be used along with science and the scientific method in
the search for the ultimate truth. 
In talking about truth and the search for it, we must first define what truth is, what
makes something true, and the distinction between what is true, and the "truth". "What is
truth?" has been an important question asked by many philosophers throughout history, and
there are many ways of looking at it. Truth can be described as the quality of being
true, and anything that is true is a truth. Thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and opinions are
said to be true or false. An idea makes a truth claim and is true when the character of
what is thought about upholds its claim. Truth can be a relative term, since men create
words and the words create the truth. It can also be very subjective, since different
people look at things differently. Take for example a mad scientist who wants to get
revenge on all the people that laughed at his approach at finding the truth. He somehow
manages to contaminate all the water in the world, and everyone that drinks it
hallucinates about flying saucers. Everyone will believe that they saw a flying saucer,
that it is true that it existed. Of course it is not true that the saucer actually
existed, but if everyone believes that it did, how can anyone say otherwise? Because of
arguments such as this, and for the purposes of this topic, truth will be considered more
absolute. An absolute truth is something that is unchangeable, something ageless and
constant. It does not vary nor shift, it is a piece of unalterable reality. Truth is more
and beyond that which is true. 
One of the theories of truth that should be mentioned before dealing with thinking
scientifically and the scientific method is Coherence Theory. The Coherence Theory of
Truth states that a statement is true if it agrees with other statements that are
considered true, and fits into a coherent system of such statements. If the statement or
proposition does not agree with other propositions that have been established, then it
can not be true. 
The desire of humanity to find the truth has led to many developments, including the
creation of science, and the scientific method. This method has greatly advanced the
amount of knowledge humanity has about the world, and continues to do so. The scientific
method has become so popular because it is not based on faith or authority, it is based
on finding facts that are objective and can be verified through experiment and the
analysis of empirical data. 
However, there are many problems of knowing and knowledge that exist in the scientific
method that should be discussed. Science contains both strong and weak knowledge. The
basic components of science such as mathematics can be considered strong knowledge, since
everything is based on them, and most people are completely confident that nothing will
ever turn up that will prove such things as 2+2=4 as completely untrue. However, many
scientific theories are weak knowledge since they are constantly being updated and
changed as new facts are found. 
Coherence theory also plays a large role in science, and is related to the problems of
knowing. Every new theory, experiment and fact is added on to the existing framework, and
is evaluated with the assumption that the theories, facts, and experiments used are based
on true statements and ideas. This assumption can be very dangerous however, since the
basic components of a theory may not be true at all. The scientific method would collapse
if say some of the mathematics was found to be false. Because of this, the facts and
"true" statements that are derived scientifically are not absolute unalterable truths.
The scientific truths of today me be the jokes of tomorrow. Science is constantly
changing and adding to itself in the search for the absolute and ageless truths of the
universe, and will continue to do so into the far future. 
Science professes to be in search of the absolute truths of the universe, but as
discussed, there are many inherent problems with this method. However, science and the
scientific method are not the only tools humanity is using in the search for the truth.
Religion, for example also professes to be in search for the truth with a very different
method. Religion is very different from the scientific method, it is not based on
experimental facts and is much more subjective that science. The idea of a "god" and a
belief that if we find it we will find the ultimate truth is the basis of such religions
as Christianity or Judaism. These two very different tools in the search for truth, which
are often at odds with each other, may in the end be more similar that we now believe
since they are both looking for the same thing. 
The search for the absolute and unchanging truth has been one of the most important
driving forces behind human advancement. Science is an outgrowth of this, and has
recently been one of the largest influences in this search. The scientific method is good
in many ways since it is very objective and is based on facts and empirical data. At the
same time, it is limited by the things it is based because if these basic assumptions are
false, then the whole theory and method can gravely mislead us. Of course there are many
other ways of thinking and searching for the truth, and maybe a combination of these will
eventually lead us to the ultimate truth. We may never be able to find or comprehend the
basic truths of the universe, if they exist at all, or we may have already found the
ultimate truth, but just don't know it yet.