Philosophy Wire: NASA, arsenic, proof

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2012-01-30]: Scientists fail to confirm the existence of arsenic-based like that NASA had announced it found in lake Mono a year ago [source: Scientific American]. How can you prove something? At what conclusion would you arrive when hearing NASA claiming one thing and a university claiming the direct opposite? How do you DECIDE what is “true” ?

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Philosophy Wire: The 2nd Amazon and the importance of the 2nd announcement…

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2011-08-30]: Scientists announced the discovery of a second underground Amazon river running 4 kilometers beneath the “original” river. Just days later, scientists reclaimed the truth by clearing out that the announcement was greatly exaggerated [source: web news]. Excellent reflexes on behalf of science. Bravo. The “truth” (even with the most typical meaning of the word) is sometimes just an announcement away… And most of the times we do not hear the second announcement because we are too thrilled by the hearing of the first one…

 

PS. How many people will search for “second Amazon” in Bing / Google / Yahoo! and don’t take notice of that “second announcement” ? Which will be the “truth” for them?

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective...

Philosophy Wire: Dead Obama and the notion of True News…

Philosophy Wire by Spiros Kakos [2011-07-05]: Hackers have taken over a Twitter account belonging to US broadcaster Fox News and declared President Obama dead [source: BBC News]. What is the real difference between true and false news? How much do we personally verify the news we hear everyday or the news we watch on TV?

(c) Philosophy WIRES - Commenting world news from philosophy's perspective...