(1) Science offers us a powerful tool for the discovery of truth, science is not the only, or even necessarily the best way that humans come to know reality.
(2) The existence of a single, objective scientific method is a myth.
On the following statement I would like to know if there is a way around this. Can we approach experiments or observations objectivity?
(3) We always approach an object, experiment, or observations with a set of prejudgements: we have identified what the problem or question is, we know what information we are looking for, and what counts as an answer.
Example: When we started the physics projects we were only looking for data concerning motion. Were there other things we should be paying attention to?
1.) Humans come to know reality through experiences they have judgments and make observation. Science gives an explanation of why things happen, not to mention science has a lot of restrictions.
ReplyDelete2.) There are a lot of different processes and steps that you can take to do science. There is never just one way to do science and there are many topics in science that do not have the same objectives.
3.) We cannot approach experiments or observations objectively because there is always going to be prejudgments and we have our own opinions. We believe what we have been taught in school overrules our imagination.
Emily, Katie, Miquella
1. I think that science is a means humans use to come to know truth. It is definitely a main way we come to know reality. Even if we aren't doing actual formal experiments we are learning through trial and error, or by trying things out. This is what we do in science all the time, we test to see if something works and if it doesn't we try something else, we try things out. In our everyday lives we use science. Whether it be the things we use, the house we live in or how we stay on the ground. The discovery of things around us and how things work is science.
ReplyDelete2. Before this class I would have said that no a single objective scientific method was not a myth. After this class I would agree. We have seen that there is not only one way of doing things. We don't have to follow word for word what the Scientific Method says, although we do essentially follow it any way. Whether we use the traditional method or an alternative one we start with a question or questions, we choose how to answer it and we have a hypothesis in mind whether we write it down in the "if, then" format or just have it in the back of our mind. After that we perform some sort of procedure to get to a conclusion. We do have a fundamental scientific method but I don't think that there is only one way of viewing at it.
3. I think that for most things we do have our own prejudgments. We have our, what my philosophy teacher called GUS ( our General Understanding of Stuff), our prior knowledge, which does cause us to have prejudgments on most everything, especially experiments. In my projects so far I have, along with my group, had ideas that we thought would work, we took our GUS and used it to judge whether or not our project idea would work. I do think, however, that if we don't really have any GUS on the subject at hand then we can go into it with little prejudgment, but there will probably still have some ideas about it in some way.
1. I agree, there are many ways to study reality. science is one of the most amazing tools in finding, proving, and improving reality. but others are good as well such as philosophy. both are very logical and help us make sense of the world.
ReplyDelete2. there is no saying that every discovery was made this way, that is for sure, but what we teach in school is that you must use the scientific method. what I think is that the scientific method isn't just the one way to do it but a starting point or a quick reference on how to make observations and submit them in a scientific format.it is there to help not be the only way.
3. we must be objective in science. there are many ways to look at the same problem, and just because there are previous studies that say one thing does not mean you can't try and get a different angle on a old subject. there are however many things that will be hard to prove otherwise such as that the earth is round or that we are the center of the universe. but if you dare to be objective and see all possibilities it may lead to new and more exciting options for the future.
1. Science is a powerful tool to discover truth, but I can see that for some people it isn’t the only tool. For many people their religion plays a big role in what their truth is. What is true for one person isn’t always true for everyone or anyone else. We all have our own thoughts and ideas and that makes our truths all different. Some people need to see and feel things for it to be true, others have a complete faith in what is told to them, and for some they need to figure it out for themselves. I like the example of touching a hot stove. Some can be told it’s hot don’t touch it and they won’t, others need to see someone else get burned and they won’t touch it, and some need to touch it for themselves. All are necessary for humans to know reality.
Delete2. There is never a single objective scientific method. Science can be looked at in so many ways and experiments can be dealt with in many ways. There is no one set of rules for science. Though that was how many of us were taught in our younger years, I am now seeing science as less fixed and more open.
3. I don’t think that there is a way around our prejudgments, no matter how hard we try. We will always be biased in some way, especially if we are looking to prove something we can find our answer out of nothing almost. I think that we can make ourselves aware of our prejudgments and try not to give into them for our research, but they will always be present.
1: I think that for everyone the role of science is different. For some the world revolves around scientific fact and something only exists if science says so. However for many people religion outweighs science. People like to believe in a higher power, a source of strength to turn to. Those people may believe that what science tells us isn't necessarily true. After all, just because you can't see something doesn't mean it isn't there.
ReplyDelete2: I don't think there is such thing as a single scientific method. With the different learners come different thought processes and along with that different ideas. What works for someone won't necessarily work for the next person. While there can be a solid outline of the scientific process there will most likely be more changes made than there will be consistency. A part of science is changing things to get different results. How can you experiment if you aren't given any room to do so?
3. I don't believe that we can get around prejudgements. I think that no matter the circumstance an individual will always have their own ideas about a topic and whether or not their theories will prove to be correct. There is, however, a way around making your judgements biased. By keeping an open mind and knowing that anything can happen you allow yourself to observe things for what they truly are instead of just what we want them to be.
I agree with the above post that we all know science differently. For some it is a class, for some a realization, and for some, practically a religion: things can only be explained by science, or nothing else. Others believe that the rules of science can be bent, or are just plain incorrect, and for some people, they just don't matter.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that there is more than one scientific method. Every person has their own scientific method, often ones that we learn outside the classroom. Education has a million of them, and not just in science. we all have different methods of learning, and therefore a million ways to learn or theorize;
As for removing prejudgements, that is called thinking outside the box. Some of us are better with thinking with prejudgements, and some of us are great without them. We all approached the physics project with the idea of motion, inertia, and other things having to do with Newton's Three Laws. Though not wrong, this wasn't 100% complete thinking. But there is a reason we have prejudgements of everything we meet, and that is because of "prior knowledge," the things we've been taught about. As children and teenagers, and even as adults, human beings automatically think of physics as involving the Three Laws, when this is not necessarily true, but this is what we know physics to be.
1. I believe humans come to understand reality through the process of life experiences. This would be a personal realization, but there has to be scientific fact behind everything that happens in our world. Whether or not one chooses to believe in the scientific background of understanding reality is completely the opinion of a single person.
ReplyDelete2. Prior to taking this course, I have always believed in one scientific method. That is the way we were taught in school growing up, and if that's what the teachers said, it had to be true, right? After performing experiments in this class, I have come to the conclusion that there does not have to be one set way of how to carry out a scientific experiment. You learn what works best for you. There is no wrong way to perform a scientific experiment.
3. I do not believe that there is any way around this. Prejudgements occur with everything we deal with in life. Even if we do not know or understand a single thing or idea about something, we will always have an opinion about it. That's just the way the human brain works.
Chelsea Rovida