Socrates and Us

Long ago and far away, I decided to become a “walking around” candidate for the scientific method. That meant I had to learn how to think critically, take the scientific approach to almost every issue within my abilities, and be a center of influence for anyone who cared to listen and heed whatever I might contribute to “a better world for humanity.” And, to pay back for my educational assistance, my findings would all be free. My mentor was the Greek philosopher, Socrates, who constantly reminded me that “the unexamined life is not worth living.” Also, as a low-maintenance kind of guy, I adopted the perspective of a very insightful and anonymous source who said “the richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.”

Well, here I am—still carrying that torch, and still working for us. If you haven’t already done so, you can join in this venture. It’s easily done. I believe our world also would be a far better place if all members of the Supreme Court joined us, plus every member of every legislative and governing body wherever they are located.  Amen.

First, you must be open-minded. That means you dare not give very much credence to guesses, hunches, surmise, opinions, or religious points of view or assertions—not on important issues. These impostors may have their place, but not when we need good, honest answers. We can deviate from them if they are pointing a gun at us, but only temporarily. We can also tell who the impostors are by their propensity to tell lies, their scrambled thinking, their disrespect for our intelligence, and their arrest record.

To get started, here are the steps:

The first element in the scientific method is gather the best facts we can find. That source is now available to almost everyone in the entire world: Its vehicle is artificial intelligence (AI) and its source is the internet. I use M/S Bing and M/S Edge. In just a few seconds we can search the entire available data bases from around the world and pull down summaries that were not possible to fetch just a few months ago. It’s better than having access to a thousand libraries. The smart algorithms inside AI models do all the heretofore time-consuming searches and put the best facts right in front of us. It gives us the source results devoid of guesses, hunches, surmise, weak opinions, or assertions. Any writer or speaker can be fact-checked in a matter of seconds. Our findings can also be cross-checked by re-wording our questions and by making several AI inquiries from different perspectives.

Facts must be further analyzed, synthesized, and evaluated before we can make conclusions about them. Our conclusions become even more credible by an error analysis. We must learn how to establish limitations to the use of our conclusions. If we are using probability analysis, we can find our error limits via “root mean square error” (RMSE) by squaring the probabilities of each error source, then summing them, and taking the square root of our sum. For more details, do a fact check on the subject of error analysis. Read and study this subject well. Scientists know it well. Lawyers might win more cases by using it.

When you present your findings to a small group—especially juries—be very specific and clear about your findings and their limitations. Do not give any ne’er-do-well the chance to twist your findings to suit his or her purposes. Your findings are always open to new investigations by you or by others, but your findings are yours alone to explain. Own them. Be as careful as you can to not let others misquote you, or to leave important findings out, or to invent findings to suit their purposes.

Here is one project almost anyone can understand. It has to do with “due diligence.” I am in the early stage of an applied research project. I recent completed an agreement with a company to install solar panels on my roof. It is part of doing my effort in the name of “the good” by using solar energy rather than fossil fuels to heat or air condition my house. That is sometimes called “leaving a smaller footprint on Nature’s property.” The federal government (thanks to Pres. Biden), made a lot of money available to the states, to the installer, and to power companies. My installer will continue to own and keep the system in good working order for the next 40 years. I get to use it as a source of clean energy at a significantly reduced cost to me. And by selling some energy back to my power company, they get to divert and sell that energy to someone else—plus federal money for doing so. When completed all four of us will be winners. I expect to cut my energy costs in half, and see the value of my house rise by approximately the cost of the system and its installation. My personal payoff could produce $30,000 to $50,000 in cost savings and a boost in my property value over the next 10 years. My “due diligence” shows this project is good for all of us. My installer even agreed to pay for all repair costs, especially for wind damage from hurricanes far into the future. We do see those monster storms from time to time in Florida.

To summarize, science is for everyone, not just for scientists. It has many practical applications especially in environmental, household, legal matters, and in personal decision making. It all starts with honorable motivations, defensible facts, followed by good analyses, syntheses, and evaluations; doing an error analysis; and drawing conclusions that are defensibly accurate, reliable, and useful; and describing its limitations. You will not have found the truth, just the best answer obtainable by any other means.

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Added: AuthorsDen forbids using its platform to promote a business. I have no financial interest in solar panel sales, or in promoting their use apart from saving money over time, and by using an available energy source for a cleaner environment. But if you are interested, you can do an energy AI research project using your own circumstances. You might find there are significant savings to be found if you are willing to listen to Socrates and by using new AI data sources effectively.