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And that's not even getting into the issue of folks who are blurring the lines between genuinely empirical #science and computer-simulated "science", who pretend as if setting up something in a #software package and reporting on the results is like conducting an experiment, an _in silico_ experiment.
Is it? Computers do make slight subtle *errors* when doing heavy-duty numerical calculations. The models which are programmed into the software are themselves subject to doubt: at any time, a scientific model once thought to be rock-solid may be proved false by an awkward experimental observation.
(cont'd)
I'd like to cite one plausible example, guesswork I admit, of where this all seems to be headed, in practical terms—this fudging of the boundaries between physical reality and simulated reality, most especially the growing tendency to conduct "experimental science" solely in a #computer simulation.
I think it's pretty obvious to anyone who has been keeping a worried eye on the headlines pertaining to the #science and #technology coming out of U.S. corporations and big-name universities: the prevailing business climate is hurtling towards an ominous old-fashioned method of monetizing science and engineering: crude, simple, dirty, and in massive quantities.
(cont'd)