Science
Exploring the natural world through careful examination and experimentation.
The Scientific Method:
- Observe reality.
- Generate a hypothesis based on observation.
- Make predictions and test the hypothesis in a way that best mitigates variables and can be reproduced.
- Observe and note the results, potentially generating new hypotheses to test.
- Form a conclusion and publish the results for peer review.
- Test is repeated by others.
Limitations of science include our ability to sense reality with natural and artificial means, biases, and unknown confounding factors that can skew data, monetary limitations (equipment, study size, personnel, etc.). The need for funding can create biases that effect not only results of a particular study, but whether or not certain experiments are ever conducted, and therefore the total body of scientific literature.