Troubleshooting and concluding with the scientific (Baconian) method

A striking realization

I never realized how deeply Van Tilian presuppositionalism is rooted in my thinking until this morning. As I was reading Poythress's article on biblical interpretation (Poythress, V. S. (1996). Science and Hermeneutics: Implications of Scientific Method for Biblical Interpretation. In M. Silva (Ed.), Foundations of Contemporary Interpretation (M. Silva, Ed.) (452). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan) I realized the depth of my presuppositionalism.

Everyone knows the (Baconian) scientific method, right?

Baconian Scientific Method

‎1. Gather data.
‎2. Formulate a general rule accounting for the data.
‎3. Derive predictions from the general rule.
‎4. Check predictions with experiments.
‎5. if the prediction comes true, give the general rule the stays of a (tentative) law. laws are always subject to further testing.
‎6. If the prediction is false, start again at step two.

Thanks to Poythress, the assumptions behind this scientific method are as follows:

Assumptions behind the Baconian Scientific Method

‎1. Data are hard facts and cannot be disputed.
‎2. Hypotheses come from seeing a pattern in the data and making an inductive generalization. It says that all cases fit the observed pattern. Seeing a pattern is an act of insight that cannot be perfectly controlled, but once a pattern is seen, generalization follows.
‎3. Predictions from a hypothesis are derived By simple deduction from the hypothesis itself.
‎4. Discarding or retaining a hypothesis is a relatively simple matter, depending merely upon whether the additional experimental data support it.
‎5. Confirmed hypotheses are added to the existing list of general laws. Progress in science consists in piecemeal additions to the list of known laws.

But as I started thinking this through, I realized that these assumptions are incredibly too heavy and assume way too much.

The weight of the assumptions

‎1. Data is interpreted, and thus, we must be aware of what are presuppositions are about what is accepted as data.
‎2. Hypotheses come from a mind and soul that have biases and presuppositions, thus  hypotheses are either allowed Or forbidden by a complex structure of behavior, beliefs and thought systems.
‎3. Experimentation and comparison are incredibly subjective, and the mind and soul can leave out experiments if they do not want to entertain them. Thus, the simple conclusions are not so simple, and our presuppositions can shut out conclusions. also, discarding a hypothesis is not as easy as one would like to think, sometimes we have an almost religious adherence to them.
‎4. Adding a "law" to an existing set of laws is also not so easy, because these laws must not contradict one another, if they do, then you have a house of cards. Also, if one determines that a new law should exist, how can we be sure that we want to allow that law in.

Now what?

There really is no one in this world that is truly objective. We can approximate objectivity, but cannot reach it. We are a bundle of experiences, beliefs and philosophies. All of these combined make us very subjective  When we attempt to rise out of these things, we can only rise so far. As we interpret reality we bring our problems, emotions, presuppositions and backgrounds into them.

Filtered Data

When we do this, our data is filtered. Our hypotheses are filtered as well, because sometimes a new hypothesis can break our entire system of thinking, and then we don't know what we would be left with except ruin, so we leave it (or them) out.

Safe Experiments

Our experimentation generally has to be safe for us, we wouldn't be part of an experiment that we thought my blow us up, so we limit our experiments based upon safety. Sometimes, we are worried that we might not be able to interpret the results, or the results might be outside of our expertise, so we leave them out as well.

Contradicting Laws

But it doesn't end here, because even if we do conduct an experiment, but it contradicts one of our pre-existing "laws", or presuppositions, we sometimes leave the new law out. We are generally not willing to add a new law if that means erasing or redoing an old one, especially if that law comes from many years of blood, sweat and tears.

Conclusion

You see, man cannot be objective. Man has a set of presuppositions that he cannot remove. We can change these presuppositions, but only with great toil and pain, only with great soul-searching and change. By and large humans don't want to change. We view ourselves in some sort of quasi-perfection state, such that we have arrived and know enough to make it.

The reality is that we are creatures created in God's image, and as such we are finite. Finite means changeable, and changeable assumes that new information is going to shape us and make us into something different. The correct thing to do is to be shaped into something different that matches with the reality of the creator. We must discard presuppositions that are flawed and sinful (we must put on the new man and attempt to have the revelation of Christ continue to remove the noetic effects of sin) and put on new presuppositions that align with God and his revelation of Jesus Christ.

So then, why did I mention troubleshooting and concluding...well, in real-life, I work in software, and often I trouble-shoot problems in software, software systems, and sometimes even hardware. What I have found over the years is that in order to properly trouble-shoot these things, you must be aware of the assumptions of the (Baconian) scientific method and your own assumptions. These assumptions are horrible for trouble-shooting, because they limit the scope of what can be determined, and of the solutions. After all, who wants to recommend a solution that you don't know how to do? Think about that one for a moment.

The reality is that Van Tilian presuppositionalism just put a name to the fact that we are creatures that must live as such...God's creation that is limited and finite. That need God's revelation and light to exist. The more we see ourselves in this light, the more our minds will be renewed, and this doesn't just effect our spiritual lives and church lives, no, it effects our jobs. We become better at subduing and having dominion in the earth. We become people who look more like Adam before he fell into sin.

Thus, let the Bible, its presuppositions and the Lord Jesus Christ renew your mind, and effect your life.