{"id":78974,"date":"2022-07-08T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/science-et-prudence\/"},"modified":"2024-10-31T12:01:50","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T11:01:50","slug":"science-et-prudence-du-reductionnisme-et-autres-er","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/science-et-prudence-du-reductionnisme-et-autres-er\/","title":{"rendered":"Science et prudence"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In their book Science et prudence. Du r\u00e9ductionnisme et autres erreurs par gros temps \u00e9cologique [Science and Caution: About Reductionism and Other Errors at a Time of Heavy Ecological Weather],<\/em> written as a dialog, mathematician Nicolas Bouleau and philosopher Dominique Bourg explore the theory of epistemology, which distinguishes the difference between science and “non-science,” from a new angle allowing us to better understand how science conditions our view of nature. The speculations put forth by Donald Trump concerning the existence of an alleged “post-truth,” or a mirror imaging of the truth, show that the interpretation of scientific knowledge is still debated today.<\/strong><\/h6>
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Bourg<\/span> Dominique et Bouleau<\/span> Nicolas, Science et prudence. Du r\u00e9ductionnisme et autres erreurs par gros temps \u00e9cologique [Science and Caution: About Reductionism and Other Errors at a Time of Heavy Ecological Weather]<\/em>, Paris\u00a0: Presses universitaires de France, juin 2022, 216 p.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n \n \n <\/a>\n <\/div>\n \"\"\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

The authors point out that the epistemological landscape has long been characterized by the close alliance between physics and mathematics, since Descartes, Galilee, and Newton, who contributed to creating a demarcation between science and non-science. The major figures of modernist epistemology, notably the positivists, put forth the “scientific” criteria of concepts and propositions. Karl Popper claimed that science is based on hypotheses or theories, which must be verified by experience: an idea can only be considered scientific if it’s verifiable or rebuttableby experience. As a result, he denies any scientificity in psychoanalysis and Marxism. However, this view has been contested because it cannot easily be applied to the social sciences. This belief, inspired to a large extent by the concepts of mathematicsand physics, was opposed by postmodernism introduced in the 1970s by sociologists in the field of academic social science, who affirmed that scientific knowledge is a social construction influenced by society and ideologies. The authors criticize this constructivist conception of science, endorsed for a time by Bruno Latour, because it leads to a “relativism,” on which climate change skepticism is based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicolas Bouleau and Dominique Bourg consider that a clear distinction must be made between three types of scientific activities, whoseimportance has varied over the centuries. The first one, nomology, establishes laws (nomos<\/em> in Greek); the emblematic example of which is physics. Physics explains phenomena by using mathematical theories and terms, which are confronted with reality by experience, but it “simplifies the world by considering that local theories are also universal.” Modern physics takes a different view of the universality of laws. The Theory of Relativity and Quantum Mechanics do not deal with phenomena in the same way because of their different scales (macroscopic and microscopic, involving atoms).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interpretative science, the second type, focuses on phenomena that can be explained by multiple theories. It involves environmental composites, including the atmosphere, whose evolution is interpreted and modeled by climatology. This is a typical characteristic of climatology, a science that does not create laws, but that nevertheless has the capacity to predict extreme weather events, such as heatwaves for example, and whose predictions are used for IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third type of science is the combinatorial one which associates combinatorial chemistry and molecular biology through the study of atoms and molecules which combineby bonding between neighboring electrons. The authors point out the fact that since this science uses integer numbers (the carbon is linked by four peripheral electrons to four hydrogen atoms in the methane molecule), it has a “certain similarity” to arithmetic. With the use of Mendeleev’s Periodic Table of Elements, it is possible to determine all the constituents of the Universe, including livingones. The technical nature of combinatorial science gives it a specific status as the experiments can be random – for instance, a chemical synthesis or the modification of a gene may sometimes have unforeseen, large-scale consequences. Coincidence has an important role in nature, according to Jacques Monod’s thesis in Chance and Necessity.[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This scientific typology leads the authors to challenge the reductionism of many scientists, notably biologists, who “claim” that life is defined by a sequence of physicochemical phenomena, whereas it is instead a complex, combinatory mechanism. This notion is magnified by using a similarity with the concept of algorithm, coming from computer science. For example, the DNA of a cell would be equivalent to a computer program controlling its functioning. According to the authors, this overly scientific outlook of nature leads to “disregarding ignorance” because it does not predict the potential dangers of certain techniques (notably the formation of ozone holes). They believe it inspires transhumanists thinkers who advocate not only “repairing” humans, but also enhancing their intellectual capacities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mathematics has its own subjects of studies (axioms and theorems), but it also provides support for scientific disciplines that need equations to describe phenomena (laws of gravitation for example), and thus contributes to the legitimacy of reductionism. Yet in the 1930s, the Austrian mathematician Kurt G\u00f6del caused an earthquakeby demonstrating that there are arithmetic statements which are neither demonstrable nor refutable. In other words, mathematics must acknowledge a principle of “incompleteness.” The authors, who emphasize the relationship between arithmetic and combinatorial science, infer that there is no systematic method of using an algorithm (a series of mathematical operations) to carry out the synthesis of molecules. However, a distinction should be made in their conclusions because chemists have developed methods using artificial intelligence to predict chemical reactions. It is, nevertheless, true that the incompleteness theorem greatly undermines the concept of reductionism. They point out that mathematicians in the 1970s, notably Alexandre Grothendieck, were the first to refute the concept of reductionism. This observation leads the authors to recommend a cautious approach to ecology through the use of combinatorial science. At a time when climate warming threatens the planet of a heavy ecological weather, we must be conscious of our ignorance of somephenomena and ofthe impact of techniques, and thus adopt an ethicsof “caution” (they recall the damages resulting from the erroneous theory of eugenics), even an ethics of ignorance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The authors can be commended for their aggiornamento<\/em> of epistemology’s connection to science and its differentiation from “non-science.” Their original prospective helps us to consider the science of ecology in a new light. Mathematicians have provided them with solid knowledge, and we must therefore take this into account in our relationship with nature. We could, however, call to the authors’ attention the fact that while we must be conscious of our ignorance, we must also seek to overcome it. For example, the advances in climatology have alerted us to the challenges of climate change. For those who take an interest in the stakes of ecological transition, and the role of science in our understanding of nature, this book is a thought-provoking reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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N.B.:<\/em> This article has been translated from French by Anne Strehaiano, in collaboration with the students of Sainte-Th\u00e9r\u00e8se high school in Rambouillet.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n

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    Monod<\/span> Jacques, Chance and Necessity: Essay on the Natural Philosophy of Modern Biology,<\/em> New York: Knopf, 1971 (translation of Le Hasard et la n\u00e9cessit\u00e9. Essai sur la philosophie naturelle de la biologie moderne,<\/em> Paris: Seuil, 1970). \u2191<\/a><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In their book Science et prudence. Du r\u00e9ductionnisme et autres erreurs par gros temps \u00e9cologique [Science and Caution: About Reductionism and Other Errors at a Time of Heavy Ecological Weather], written as a dialog, mathematician Nicolas Bouleau and philosopher Dominique Bourg explore the theory of epistemology, which distinguishes the difference between science and “non-science,” from … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":78986,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"both","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":301,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[131],"tags":[210],"keyword":[1202,973,899],"class_list":["post-78974","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-read-seen-heard","tag-science-et-technique-en","keyword-connaissance-en","keyword-philosophie-en","keyword-science-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78974"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":99200,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78974\/revisions\/99200"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78974"},{"taxonomy":"keyword","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.futuribles.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/keyword?post=78974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}