Science, because people engage in it, is a socially embedded activity. It progresses by hunch, vision, and intuition. Much of its change through time does not record a closer approach to absolute truth, but the alternation of the cultural contexts that influence it so strongly. Facts are not pure and unsullied bits of information - culture influences what we see and how we see it. Theories, moreover, are not inexorable inductions from facts. The most creative theories are often imaginative visions imposed upon facts; the source of imagination is also strongly cultural. The author implies that those who rely on scientific results should
- Realize that science relies on imagination to approach absolute truth
- Insist on pure and unsullied facts rather than on theories
- Understand that theories are frequently strict inductions from facts
- Consider the cultural biases of scientists