Sciencespeaking topic
The demarcation problem: where is the line separating science from non-science? What exactly separates astrology from astronomy, being true or being falsifiable?
— Karl Popper, the demarcation problem
practice with this topic
Set the timer (5-30 min), take 20 seconds of prep if you like, start talking. Jot your thoughts onto the sticky-note board.
similar topics
- A healing wound itching isn't a coincidence; the repair process stimulates the nerves. But scratching damages the tissue and delays healing. So your body sends you an urge that will ruin the repair. Why hasn't this self-contradiction been weeded out?
- How did Hubble's observation that galaxies are receding from us, showing the universe is expanding, change our understanding of cosmology?
- What does al-Khwarizmi establishing algebra as a systematic science, and the word algorithm deriving from his name, mean in the history of mathematics?
- The replication crisis: a large share of published psychology studies failed to produce the same result when repeated. If a finding can't be replicated, does it still count as knowledge?
- How powerfully you bind a smell to a memory; a perfume can bring back years ago in an instant. The reason is anatomical: the smell nerves connect almost directly to the memory and emotion centers, with no 'thinking' layer in between. So smell skips your mind and touches your past directly.