The Struggle to Find Truth from a Position of Ignorance

Today I stumbled over a popular press article on the topic of longevity science, in which a fair amount of attention is given to Aubrey de Grey and the SENS Research Foundation vision for rejuvenation biotechnology. Like most such articles it is a view from an individual who, though a scientist himself, stands far outside the field of aging research - just like much of the world he is looking in with limited knowledge, trying to make sense of it all, in search of truth from a position of ignorance. This struggle, the search for truth in a field in which you will never personally know enough to verify any significant detail for yourself, is one of the defining characteristics of the human condition. We have the urge to know in the moment that we encounter a new assertion, but we cannot justify spending the years it would take to know ourselves, versus accepting a secondhand truth that may or may not in fact be correct. It is frequently a challenge even to understand how great or little is the uncertainty of any claim we come across. This has always been the case, but now that we are all connected in a vast web of communications, superficial summaries of every aspect of human knowledge at our fingertips, the quest for truth is a mouse click away every moment of the day, and we accept all too much of what we see simply because we do not have the time to do otherwise. This is compounded by the fact that some fields of science are in tumult, experienced researchers in public dis...
Source: Fight Aging! - Category: Research Authors: Tags: Of Interest Source Type: blogs