this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2026
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I'm not arguing against science or experiment, and if you think that's my take then please reread my comments. I am arguing against the vulgar version of empiricism. Vulgar empiricists rejected evolution, for example, as it is something that occurs over an absurd period of time (from a human perspective) and thus is difficult to test. Same as soil erosion and weathering. Empiricism is a method, and as a method it can be used with correct world outlooks and incorrect world outlooks.
Without a proper world outlook, empiricism is ineffective. For example, early experimentation often relied on gods as an explanation for phenomena. They were still experimental, and still observational, but without a correct world outlook they resulted in incorrect conclusions.
I'm not treating political science as religion, I'm treating it scientifically, with the knowledge that how we view and interpret the world colors how we analyze the world. Incorrect means of analysis means the method is blunted, empiricism without dialectical materialism leads to pitfalls like denying evolution or tectonic shifts. It is also entirely possible to come to correct conclusions without the correct world outlook, but this is often sporadic and accidental.
Where do ideas come from? Are they beamed into our heads, or do they come from how we live and the conditions we exist in? If you believe the former, then you are an empirical idealist, which is incorrect and leads to incorrect lines of analysis. What we know is based on how we practice and experiment, which informs how we can predict similar situations occurring. The more we do this, the better and more complete our knowledge. None of this is nonsense like "0=1," but instead is a definite process of knowledge building.
To re-center, my argument is that we learn more about the world as we interact with it, experiment with it, using empiricism. This leads us to connected conclusions, rather than specific and isolated ones. It's how we know human consumption is contributing to climate change. If we take the narrow and specific, isolated and disconnected view, then experiment is not properly used and leads to improper conclusions. That's why I am saying this vulgar empiricist stance is anti-scientific, and that science has advanced beyond it into better science.
If that's your definition or the location from which you believe I am arguing then I believe we are having two separate discussions a la Voltaire. I am personally fine with theories being well supported by a large body of evidence such as the evolution of man. Now as for evolution as a concept we literally have direct evidence. We can literally watch organisms evolve, typically ones with very short lifespans or else the test will become intractable.
If a concept is not measurable or testable there is no way to determine if it works towards its intended goal or not. The one axiom I've maintained throughout this is the goal is to increase human and environmental wellbeing. We can create measures and test if a concept is bringing us closer to that goal, further away, or has no measurable effect.
It's my belief the core of any political system is to foster wellbeing and that's particularly true for socialism so in that we can test and measure as to ensure concepts are actually creating intended outcomes. If we cannot test or measure then there is no means through which to determine if said policy is fostering wellbeing.