April 13, 2013

Why People Confuse Models and Theories

It’s interesting to think about why people confuse models with theories. I think probably there are two reasons. One is the incredible effectiveness of mathematical theories in the physical and natural sciences and how well they behave, how well they work.

The second reason is that as a result of trying to apply that sort of approach to the world, people use mathematics. And mathematics looks incredibly accurate and so you may mistake it for a theory, but it’s really a model. It’s an analogy that doesn’t have the essential truth of a theory.

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

Up Next

Culture & Religion

Go Ahead, Get Some New Music. Your Brain Will Thank You.

Canadian scientists used MRI to observe brain activity when subjects listened to music they never heard before. The reward center of the brain lit up in response to music they liked.