What even is science?

But Mum, psychology IS a real science!

Too often have I been met with a disapproving smile and a condescending “Oh?” in response to my decision to pursue a degree in Psychology. “But you have good grades, why not a real science?” Hearing the same sentiment repeated time and time again, I began to wonder – where does this perception of psychology as a “fake” science come from? As 13th-century Europe transitioned into a period of cultural, artistic, and intellectual rebirth, otherwise known as the Renaissance, many scholars grew dissatisfied with the then-current religious and philosophical understanding of the world. In response, they established an approach rooted in repetition and evidence, which, taking its name from the Latin word scientia (“knowledge as opposed to belief”), we know today as science. ….[READ]