“Any inquiry might be the search for a better metaphor. Indeed, what we often think of as “fictional” often does a better job with facts. There may be more truth in a single poem, play, or novel than might be found in a thousand tedious scientific papers; which probably explains why good art has so many repeat customers.”
I have trouble with this. Start down this path and you get I, Rigoberta Menchu (sp?), a falsified left-wing screed posing as a true story but known to be false and still taught in colleges because it is true in spirit.
Science may be tedious. But if done properly can reveal actual truths about the stuff we live in.
"There probably is more truth in a single experiment, scientific paper, construction project, surgical procedure, or circuit board than might be found in a thousand tedious poems or essays; which probably explains why good science and engineering has so many repeat customers."