Science can answer how 99% of the time, but can it ever answer why?

Question

just because you can answer how something may have happened, can science always answer why? Ok in the case of the universe science says the "big bang" was how. But can it answer why there was a big bang? it can try to answer how we hav come to be, but can it answer why?

Answer 1

apply for a grant to research this. spend billions of dollars . travel around the world and throughout the universe.but one day you will have to break down and accept that it just does.

the truth is, science really hasn't "proven" all that much. it has been more of a discovery process than a proof process.

the best answer to the question "why do we exist", to me seems to be ...for my entertainment. now, if science were able to prove that my answer were the correct one, and it is, would you be capable of accepting it? and why?

Answer 2

actually, the big bang is not proven, so science hasn't answered that yet. it has given us a "theory" of what the big bang "could" have been.

the question why, is a truly subjective question, you will always get opinionated answers when you ask why. its all about the answerers(not a word) perception of your question.

Answer 3

I think 'why' is the question that motivates scientific inquiry.  I disagree with those who say science is more interested in 'how' questions.

The trouble with trying to answer 'why' is that even when you seem to be making progress it always brings up deeper 'why' questions.  We can explain why the planets orbit the sun as they do with a model for gravity, but then the question becomes, "Why does gravity work that way?"

Even though there seems to be no end to this sort of 'why' regression I still think we are making progress toward more fundamental questions about the world at some root level.  There may never be a final answer but at least we'll have a great question.

Answer 4

Sure.  That's the idea behind theories.  The theory of evolution not only tells you that animals will evolve, it tells you why - because of random mutations and natural selection.  Gravitational theory not only tells you that the Earth will continue orbiting around the Sun, but why - through the equations of gravitational motion.  As for why there was a big bang, recent results out of Penn State have shown that the universe would have resulted from the collapse of a previous universe.

In science, nothing is ever proven 100% - there is always the possibility that it could be falsified.  That's the strength of science - it's ability to adapt to new evidence.  But yes, the big bang is about as proven as things get in science.  The two basic proofs are the fact that the universe is expanding, so once it must have been closer together.  The universe is also cooling, so once it must have been hotter.  Extrapolate those two back and you get a hot, dense spot that expands.  That's big bang theory.

But if you're looking for the ultimate answer, the ultimate 'why', the question for which the answer is 42, then if you don't like string theory, we can't answer that.  Yet.

EDIT:  Like I said, nothing is ever proven in science.  But evolution happens - it has been observed in the lab, confirmed by the fossil record and genetic evidence, and all other fields of science.  Theories don't become facts - they contain facts, and laws, and observations.  Evolution is a theory AND a fact - a theory which explains what will happen, and a fact that it happened.  You can look at all the evidence here.  http://www.talkorigins.org

As for your other questions, why what?  What do you mean by 'why here'?  That's the problem - you need to define the question before you can ask for an answer.

Answer 5

Natural Science answers the how.  Philosophy answers the why.  Natural Sciences have never claimed to be able to answer why. That's the way it is and if you want to know why it is like that you need to post the question in the philosophy section.

~ Edit. While theory is commonly used to mean a “hunch” or “opinion,” (as you obviously use the term) in science, a theory is an extremely strong statement that provides an explanation of a natural phenomenon based on a wealth of well-documented evidence. A theory must include the following criteria:

It must be tested by experimentation and observation of the natural world.

It must be falsifiable (i.e. experiments must exist that could prove it false).

It cannot be proved, only confirmed or dis confirmed.

The theory of evolution is based on the principle of natural selection (descent with modification).  It can be confirmed, tested and observed.  It is not a hunch, thought out during a night of heavy drinking at a frat party.

The earliest and most direct kinds of observational evidence for The Big Bang Theory are the Hubble-type expansion seen in the redshifts of galaxies, the detailed measurements of the cosmic microwave background (which was predicted before it was discovered, must have been a lovely frat party that night! ;)), and the abundance of light elements.

~~ Edit 2 There is a large difference between absolute and probable.  Probable means a measure of how likely it is that some event will occur; a number expressing the ratio of favorable cases to the whole number of cases possible.

While absolute means perfect or complete.

The exact sciences never made any claims for presenting absolute theories.  The only school of thought that claims absolute ideas is religion.  One of the fundamentals of science is adaptation due to change in available information.  The process of discovery is what science is all about.

Answer 6

It's all just a best guess.  Scientists figure there's a stronger likelihood of big bang than that an ancient primitive Hebrew deity who resembled a human being created the universe.  

Then they have to figure out reasons the big bang wasn't caused by an ancient primitive Hebrew deity who resembled a human being

The rare scientist who is actually doing any science [as opposed to merely teaching it] doesn't worry much about big bang.  

He's too busy developing new pesticides for Dupont, testing eye-makeup on rats, trying to figure out how to clone sheep, or doing some other busywork to help  corporations make more money, or government kill enemies more quickly and efficiently.

The reason for all the bluster is that they're more aware than most of us how little they know, and they prefer people to think otherwise.

Answer 7

I don't see how this can answer ANYTHING about how the human body is made!! Maybe the crust of the earth was made that way...but what about the animals and the people. ..and the vegetation etc etc. I'll NEVER believe that it (the big bang theory)had anything to do with these things. And the stars and the sun and the moon. C'mon.There HAS to be a SUPREME BEING!! No way around it!!

I know this wasn't an answer to the top part of your question. OK here it is...NO!

Answer 8

Hmm, that's a thoughtful question. I'd tackle that this way: my take on it is that the "how" addresses the mechanism of what is being observed, while the "why" addresses how that mechanism is necessary. That would mean then that in order to address the "why", you'd have to take a look quite a bit deeper. Maybe just one scientific step, e.g., one hypothesis deeper, you might find the why, or perhaps it's hidden under far deeper layers than that. But that is what scientists try to do when they formulate a theory -- it addresses the mechanism of the observation and also formulates new theories about how that mechanism relates to the rest of the known world.

As far as the big bang, I don't know enough about astrophysics to answer that (I'm chemical engineering). I know that the big bang has a load of experimental confirmation, but I think the "why" of the big bang gets into the space-time structure outside of our own space-time and as far as I know that mostly speculation.

Answer 9

Science is less interested in "Why" things happen as in "How" things happen.

When they start questioning "Why", it tends to turn into a discussion involving Philosophy.

Answer 10

Science doesn't HAVE all the answers, it's a method to GET the answers, honestly and accurately. Humanity is kindergarten for souls, it's not a be-all end in itself. HOW we live determines our eternity--be good! The answers will be revealed in Heaven, don't sweat the small stuff now. There IS a God. This is not speculation, it is understanding from years of wondering. Don't blow eternity with unbelief and ignorance.

Answer 11

From a philosophical point of view I would say that science never answers why nor is it capable of doing so as this is an area it is not created to examine.

Yes, we propose a theory like evolution and natural selection, yes we can provide evidence for those theories, yes we can answer (in some species) what the steps in their evolution is/was. We can even say they evolved that trait because of environmental conditions (seemingly answer why they evolved). But the question why is as endless as any two year old asking that question.

Why then did other species not evolve that trait? Why did the environmental conditions effect that species and not others? Why did the environment (not how or a cause but why) change. We can endlessly find reasons for things but why is at it's deepest level not an answerable question.

Science is concerned with explanation (theories) of how not why.

Also I would seriously question science being able to answer how 99% of the time.

Psi