Human Sciences

1. Human Sciences Jan 2014 – Mr. Stevens Class, By: Tamaki Sato

2. What are human sciences? • Anthropology – study of human beings such as: physical human characteristics, their behavior, evolutionary history and classification in present day • Geography – study of location and distribution of living things and the physical environment in which they live • Sociology– study of social customs, structures and intuition as well as its effects on the individuals and how it has made them to be who they are today • Psychology – study of mental processes and behavior through observation of how people relate to others and the environment • Political Science – study of functions performed by governments as well as spotting patterns of the behavior of voters, pressure groups and political parties etc. • Economics – study of the process humans make to make a living, through production & distribution of goods, organization of industries, trade, banking and use of resources • Under human sciences, there are 6 main sub categories we use to summarize what human science is and how we use them to gather information in the study of human behavior.. These categories are: Other sub categories under Human Sciences which help us to gather info for the study of human behavior: • Linguistics – scientific study of language • Criminology–scientific study of crime, criminals, criminal behavior and corrections • International relations –a branch of political science that deals with relations between nations and foreign affairs • Business and Management studies • Religious Studies • Archeology • History

3. Main problems with human sciences and their methods: • One of the key main problem with human science is consciousness. We make every decision with consciousness and with purpose. It is hard to explain that meaning of that purpose fully due to the fact that one person thinks differently to another and therefore act differently. This shows that data collected through observations may be accurate for certain people only. • However, our consciousness can be affected by how we were brought up (social backgrounds and our environment we interact with) as well as other factors. This is further explored in a case study of nature vs nurture on the next slide… Are human sciences, really sciences? Human Sciences are considered not to be a ‘true’ science. This is because human science relies on first hand observations to arrive to its findings and discoveries, in contrast to natural sciences, which relies on facts and provable data to support their findings.

4. Case Study: Nature vs Nurture • Does our behavior and our ability to interact with others depend on the genes we inherited from our parents, or the upbringings they have given us? • I think that who we are and how we act are affected by both nature and nurture because nature such as IQ and how intelligent we are academically are some things we cannot change. Of course, one can receive more education and spend more hours therefore eventually and evidentially that person will have more knowledge and hence be smarter. However, if you provide to two people with the same amount of education and during a fixed period of time, one is more likely to excel due to how well their brain processes the information, how fast and how much they can remember. This is nature. • However, nurture is just as important because like I said if one were to invest more time in their education they could eventually be just as smart. And also, even if an individual were to be really smart, if they were not provided with the education and opportunities to embrace their talent due to their social backgrounds then their talent would never or have less chance of being recognized. • I think humans need a balance of both in order to embrace their full potential in education, but also needs a balance of both for them to act as who they are. However, of course one would receive more or less of either nature or nurture compared to others. This causes change in human behavior. Also our environment, cultural backgrounds and upbringings etc adds onto this and increases the change.

5. Bibliography • http://www.theoryofknowledge.net/areas-of-knowledge/the-human-sciences/ • http://www.theoryofknowledge.net/areas-of-knowledge/the-human-sciences/what-are-the-aims-of-the-human-sciences/ • http://www.theoryofknowledge.net/areas-of-knowledge/the-human-sciences/classic-human-science-issues/