The picture comes clear

The scientific method makes so much sense.  You start with a question: What is the truth about... ? or What if... ?  Then, you try answers that both fit what you think is true or what could be a counter-argument with evidence.  Finally, you pick out the patterns that emerge and explain those patterns.  How beautiful.

But, it took a while to get to that point in civilization.  The first people had to make observations.  They tried explaining those observations but didn't have time to worry so much about the truth of them.  The next wave of humans decided to put the observations into myths to perpetuate them or implemented the observations into laws to abide by.  Inevitably, the farther away from the observation people grew, the more it gave room to question its truth or its old patterns for a current world with new observations.  So, new observations were made.  This went on for a long while.  Finally, people wanted to know what would be true over time, what would be constant and what would be variable.  They developed rules for following hypotheses and calculations to measure the patterns.  How brilliant.

Now we're trying to apply those rules and calculations to the exploration of space.  It might work.  It's likely that a new way of thinking about what is true will be discovered.  And, there will certainly be new questions to ask on the stem of "What if... ?" with a plethora of new answers and observations.

That is so much like our own lives.  When we were young, we made some pretty good observations and tried to live by them and perpetuate them.  Then we experienced that what we had come up with didn't apply across the board even if we wanted them to.  So we were able to ask "What if... ?" and find patterns that were constant and variable.  Then we saw ahead of us that the method might have to be applied in unknown territory because people are living longer than ever on average, new territory.  How contemplative.

Scientific reasoning brought civilization from darkness to light over time.  Our journeys from immaturity to maturity are much the same way.  We go through the beautiful stage, usually arrogantly.  Then, we face reality and get to the brilliant stage, confidently.  Eventually, we get to the contemplative stage, humbly.