By which we discover... Science!

Science is awesome.

Oh fine then, I suppose I'll have to elaborate...

Science is the best tool we have with which to describe the world we live in. It is a system by which we attempt to create a self-consistent model of reality that can be used to make accurate predictions about the universe and advance understanding of natural phenomena. It is the means by which we have advanced beyond the imperatives provided us by genetics and become the single species in the cosmos (so far as is currently known) to have ventured, in whatever small way, into the vastness of space.

It is of fundamental import that we all understand these basic principles. Any proposed system must be consistent with reality wherever it makes predictions that can be tested, and until that point we have only a theory which cannot be considered factual truth, however much we may wish it to be so.

This of course brings up points that can lead us down rather abstract and metaphysical paths of conjecture and fantasy - What is reality? To nick a quote by Phillip K Dick

'Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.'

Which I in turn nicked from a post over at Principles of Parsimony where BenD further asserts that

'The world isn't going to go away, it's going to come and bite you in the ass if you believe stupid things about it.'

This is what science endeavors to prevent, to do away with any proverbial ass biting and allow us to get on with growing as a species. We can come closer to understanding the true nature of the reality we live in, and from what we have learned so far, it's more incredible than ever imagined.

And dammit, thats why science rawks.