![]() ![]() ![]() The same is true of biology, where the cell is the reference point owing to its negative entropy: It appears as an attractor for the energy of its environment. Prior to the introduction of zero, mathematics lacked an absolute reference point similar to a negative or positive control in an experiment. This is similar to Peter Rowlands’ 4 dictum that everything in the Universe adds up to zero, the universal attractor in mathematics. It requires controls as “reference points” in order to transcend it, and to approximate the Implicate Order. The need for experimental controls is a subliminal recognition of the relative and subjective nature of the Explicate Order. But beyond the practical issues to avoid procedural and material artifacts, there is an underlying philosophical question. Nominally, both positive and negative controls are material and procedural that is, they control for variability of the experimental materials and the procedure itself. The only way for systematically overcoming the limits of our sensory apparatus is through the Scientific Method, through hypothesis‐testing, controlled experimentation. In short, controls are essential for the unbiased, objective observation and measurement of the dependent variable in response to the experimental setup. Controls also help to account for errors and variability in the experimental setup and measuring tools: The negative control of an enzyme assay, for instance, tests for any unrelated background signals from the assay or measurement. For example, the detection method for the recent discovery of gravitational waves used four‐dimensional reference points to factor out the background noise of the Cosmos. Beyond the methodology, controlling an experiment is critically important to ensure that the observed results are not just random events they help scientists to distinguish between the “signal” and the background “noise” that are inherent in natural and living systems. The only way for systematically overcoming the limits of our sensory apparatus and to get a glimpse of the Implicate Order is through the scientific method, through hypothesis‐testing, controlled experimentation. This view-that we have only a subjective understanding of reality-dates back to Galileo Galilei who, in 1623, criticized the Aristotelian concept of absolute and objective qualities of our sensory perceptions 3 and to Plato's cave allegory that reality is only what our senses allow us to see.Controlling an experiment In contrast, Bohm's Implicate Order would represent the objective reality beyond our perception. The Explicate Order is the way in which our subjective sensory systems perceive the world 2. This assumption is in direct conflict with David Bohm's thesis that there are two “Orders”, the Explicate and Implicate 1. However, this attitude subsumes that we already have enough data and that we just cannot make sense of it. ![]() Chris Anderson, the editor of Wired Magazine, proposed that we should turn to statistical analysis, machine learning, and pattern recognition instead of creating and testing hypotheses, based on the Informatics credo that if you cannot answer the question, you need more data. … once we began our formal training as scientists, the greatest challenge beyond formulating a testable or refutable hypothesis was designing appropriate controls for an experiment.īut the scientific method based on experimentation and observation has come under criticism of late in light of the ever more complex problems faced in physics and biology. While these influential works do not explicitly discuss controls as an integral part of experiments, their importance for generating solid and reliable results is nonetheless implicit. In the 1930s, Karl Popper emphasized the necessity of refuting hypotheses in The Logic of Scientific Discoveries. Other philosophers took up the concept of empirical research: in 1877, Charles Peirce redefined the scientific method in The Fixation of Belief as the most efficient and reliable way to prove a hypothesis. But where and when did this concept of controlling an experiment start? It is largely attributed to Roger Bacon, who emphasized the use of artificial experiments to provide additional evidence for observations in his Novum Organum Scientiarum in 1620. In theory, this seems trivial, but in practice, it is often difficult. ![]() And once we began our formal training as scientists, the greatest challenge beyond formulating a testable or refutable hypothesis was designing appropriate controls for an experiment. We made a deliberate decision to become scientists and not philosophers, because science offers the opportunity to test ideas using the scientific method. ![]()
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