Uncertainty, Clockwork, Science

Some people, of previous Marxist persuasion, having been burned badly by their previous choice and long since moved to other pastures, try to explain their misfortune by saying Marx’s reliance on science was wrong. “It was also a time when science thought it knew everything, it saw a linear world” etc, etc.. These people sadly cant still tell their head from their ass - which is entirely too bad.

Science, especially the kind that started in Renaissance, had uncertainty baked in from day one. Most people know about the Descartes’ quote that goes “I think therefore I am”. Most do not know the rest of that sentence however. The full quote goes like this: “I think therefore I am, of nothing else I can be certain”.

Mechanical view of things around us, the clockwork universe outlook crept into the system (and persisted) due to the mechanization of society, and that is due to second wave effects. Today, we play with non-linear models, use probability theory, and when we linearize for faster computation or simplification, always knowing what that choice entails, the trade-offs, while always watching for knowing what we do not know. This science has achieved tremendous amounts. You are enjoying the fuits of it everytime you do a Google search.

And this outlook of science is no different from Descartes’ or Newton’s. History is relative, future uncertain, seek knowledge, create (like mad). Creation / confirmation cycle.. this is at the core of science.