Science isn’t about certainty. It’s about openness.
Pokémon, personal training, and how to use your Notes app (Issue #317)
We like to think science means progress. And most of the time, it does. But as tech founder and CEO points out in a recent piece, progress doesn’t always mean breakthroughs.
Sometimes it means admitting you were wrong. Sometimes it just means saying, “I don’t know.”
Gilpin emphasizes that science, when it’s working, depends on doubt. He walks through moments when consensus failed: the rejection of germ theory, the ridicule of continental drift, the war on fat. Not because the scientists were bad actors, but because they were people — with biases, reputations, and funding pressures like everyone else.
Astrophysicist and NASA columnist takes a different stance. He defends scientific consensus — not as dogma, but as the best model we have. It evolves, yes, but that’s the point. When scientists agree, it’s not because they’re blindly following each other — it’s because the evidence has led them (for now) to the same conclusion. Want to challenge that? Go for it. But bring proof.
I found myself nodding along with both pieces. Like Gilpin, I’m wary of anyone who blindly “believes science” — especially because science has a long history of reversing itself. But I also get Siegel’s point: Without a shared foundation, science unravels. You need structure before you can push against it.
Despite what it may seem, these essays don’t contradict each other. They complement each other. Siegel is right that consensus exists for a reason. Gilpin is right that it can harden into orthodoxy. The tension between those two truths — that consensus is necessary, but never final — isn’t a flaw. It’s the point.
It’s worth asking: Where in your life have you confused consensus with certainty? Where have you dismissed a new idea just because it didn’t sound familiar? Maybe the real scientific mindset isn’t about knowing what’s true. It’s about staying open to what might be.
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📖 We’re also reading…
- The gameplay mechanics in Pokémon Go, according to writer , reflect core cultural norms in Japan — like catching and collecting things in your local community. An example: One hobby in Japan is collecting “manhole cards” reflecting local artists’ beautiful designs for Japanese drain covers.
- I was riveted by this essay on unwittingly becoming a mark for her personal trainer’s greed and deception, by essayist : “Pam manipulated me into a lot of things, but I think I kept buying packages with her because I wanted her to think I was cool. And that’s how she knew I could be a mark. Wanting to be cool is a weakness.”
- You, too, can use your Notes app for more than just notes — marketer and engineer uses hers for unfinished poetry, stray observations, and cryptic one-liners. It’s “where literary genius and utter confusion coexist, battling it out for supremacy.”
✨ A top highlight on Medium from last week
“Sometimes, people are chapters, not the whole story.” — , “Let them miss you”
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