[Right Wing Professor]

Science is what scientists do. It works by consensus, not definitions.

Exactly, To quote Karl Popper, a real philosopher:

"This, then for me is science. I do not try to define it, for very good reasons. ... Definitions are either abbreviations and therefore unneccessary...or they are Aristotelian attempts to 'state the essence' of a word, and therefore unconscious conventional dogmas. "

Popper proposes a rough demarcation criterion for science vs. non-science (that science is predictive, it actively looks for tests and refutations, etc.) I happen to think his demarcation proposal can be improved (I'm not the first or even the hundred-and-first to say this); but in general I agree with his rejection of attempts to define science, except in terms of a description of how science is done.

The quote, BTW, is from 'The Problem of Demarcation (1974), which is excerpted in a book of essays by Popper, called Popper Selections, edited by David Miller, Princeton University Press, 1985.

[js1138]

Interestingly, religion can also work by consensus. I've spent a good deal of time among Quakers. They have no dogma or doctrine, but pound for pound, they are the most influencial religious group in the world. They certainly will be around long after everyone has forgotten Osama bin Whatshisname.