[diabeticApe]

Furthermore especially in the early stages of any scientific venture, the scientific method basically necessitates trial and error. Is that really an optimal approach over agreed principles AKA the social contract? Im hesitant to jump to conclusions but just because things are a mess doesnt seem to me an adequate reason to totally throw away the current approach without a careful assessment of potential pros and cons

[glial]

Yes, knowing how the world works and what one should do are very different. Knowing the dynamics of a system (how the world works - science) and defining an objective function (aka a desirable outcome) are totally separable, and it'd be unfortunate if we didn't see that.