Scientific Truth: Components & Construction

By: Emma Bailey, Joshua O’Grady, Andrew Panneton, Matt Stevens

*All authors contributed equally to this work

Scientific truth can be defined as objective and dynamic knowledge that is constructed from scientific practice through standardized processes. Despite the dynamic quality of scientific truths, they are always developed from the scientific method, using standardized measurements and experimentation to accurately quantify the world. The standardization of measurements and lab instruments throughout history has increased the accuracy and reliability of scientific results, which in turn, caused paradigm shifts across many scientific fields. Realistically, most measurements or methods have some degree of uncertainty, which leaves room for error in scientific truth. J.S. Hunter, of the U.S. National Bureau of Standards, mentions that “so long as inconsistencies remain, the discharges measured cannot be effectively quantified, no matter how many numbers have been gathered” (Porter 28). Measurement methods continue to become more accurate, and the conclusions drawn are increasingly accurate as well. The hypothesized truths are dynamic, but ultimately, the methods used to construct these ideas are static. 

Accepted scientific truths are constantly evolving. For example, people were sure that the Earth was the center of the solar system, but after years of scientific research it was discovered that the sun is actually the center. The previously accepted scientific truth was destroyed and replaced by a more refined version. One of the most essential things to scientific truth is its ability to be dynamic. People need to be able to alter their views on a topic when new research arises. As other methods and practices become available, the current scientific truth can change and even be disproved.  As Porter said, “the progress of experimental science is the increasing ability to make and use new things” (17). Scientific truth will always evolve, and as new facts are discovered, the paradigm they fit into must shift to accommodate these new truths. 

An essential component of the construction of scientific truths is objectivity. To be objective is to be uninfluenced by personal interests or opinions while representing facts. Therefore, credible scientific data comes from an objective experimental method. Scientists’ objectivity is supported by their produced data, and objective methods are more respected than even the most intellectual ones (Porter). According to Erving Goffman, people presenting an argument “must take care to enliven their performances with appropriate expressions, exclude from their performances expressions that might discredit the impression being fostered, and take care lest the audience impute unintended meanings” (Hilgartner 15). Unfortunately, this objective lens is not always used. Some scientists use editing tools, like Photoshop, to modify their data in a desire to “beautify” it (Galison). This “beautification” is not, however, characteristic of all scientists, and the NAS seeks out those who commit this fraud. By doing this, the scientific community at large aims to base their research in objective methods that will produce the most accurate scientific truth. 

Scientific truth is often more complicated than people think. It is not simply known facts or a set of standards, but an ever-changing collection of knowledge that tries to explain worldly phenomena. Typically, this is achieved through standardized laboratory experiments with idealized conditions which are assumed to represent the natural world. Scientific practices combine all of these components to yield credible scientific truths.