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Questioning and Understanding the World: Natural Science

Questioning and Understanding the World: Natural Science. Raymond J. Giguere September 8/9, 2003. KNOWLEDGE. FACTS & THEORIES. MODELS & PARADIGMS. SCIENCE (SCIENTIA). MEASUREMENT. CREATIVITY. REPRODUCIBILITY. SYMBOLS & REALITY. AMBIGUITY. Overview.

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Questioning and Understanding the World: Natural Science

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  1. Questioning and Understanding the World: Natural Science Raymond J. Giguere September 8/9, 2003

  2. KNOWLEDGE FACTS & THEORIES MODELS & PARADIGMS SCIENCE (SCIENTIA) MEASUREMENT CREATIVITY REPRODUCIBILITY SYMBOLS & REALITY AMBIGUITY

  3. Overview • CHARACTERISTICS of SCIENCE • CONNECTIONS to PEIRCE • ROLE of MEASUREMENT and IMAGINATION • PROCESS of SCIENTIFIC INQUIRY • DISCOVERY in SCIENCE • LIMITATIONS of SCIENCE

  4. Characteristics of Science • PERMITS US to “FIX” RELIABLE BELIEFS - PEIRCE • USES DOUBT as a TOOL to ESTABLISH BELIEFS • DERIVES from HUMANS’ “RAGE TO KNOW” • TRANSCULTURAL and therefore UNIVERSAL / SOCIAL • SELF-CORRECTIVE: SCIENCE is CUMULATIVE, • but OPEN-ENDED, GROWING and CHANGING. • SEEKS to UNDERSTAND, PREDICT and CONTROL NATURE (i. e., Environment and Ourselves) • FORMS the BASIS for MODERN CULTURE; SERVES WORLD ECONOMY; CREATES WEALTH

  5. PEIRCE - “Fixing” Beliefs HUMAN DILEMMA: DOUBT & BELIEF WHY ARE BELIEFS SO IMPORTANT TO PEIRCE ? IDENTIFIES METHODS WE USE FOR “FIXING” BELIEFS

  6. Peirce : “Fixing” Reliable Beliefs The Answer is the Process; the Process is the Answer 384: “To satisfy our doubts therefore, it is necessary that a method should be found by which our beliefs be determined by some external permanency - by something upon which our thinking has no effect…such is the method of science…yet the method must be such that the ultimate conclusion of every man shall be the same.” (p. 14)

  7. PEIRCE'S JUSTIFICATION "No doubts of the method, therefore necessarily arise from its practice…experience of the method has not led us to doubt it. But on the contrary, scientific investigation has had the most wonderful triumphs in the way of settling opinions.” (p. 15)(Also see Footnote 5, pp. 19-20)

  8. Miller- Lyer Illusion

  9. Measurement & Imagination • Perception is Illusionary • Measurement Clarifies Perception • Reproducibility Verifies Measurement and Establishes Reliability (Criterion for Truth)

  10. Facts: Reproducible Data FACT = FACT = FACT: NOT ALL FACTS are CREATED EQUAL SIGNIFICANT FACTS are KEY: ONES MOST GENERAL (ABSTRACT) are OFTEN MOST IMPORTANT SCIENTISTS ESTABLISH "HIERARCHIES OF FACTS" BASED on RELATIVE SIGNIFICANCE (and DISCIPLINE) SIGNIFICANT FACTS are INDEPENDENTLY VERIFIED = REPRODUCIBILITYREQUIRED ; SOCIAL and UNIVERSAL ASPECT

  11. THEORIES are INTERPRETATIONS of FACTS. THEORIES UNIFY (Relate) FACTS and LET US IMPART MEANING ”MEANING” of MEANING = PERCEPTION of RELATIONSHIPS ”PATTERNS” in SCIENTIFIC DATA(= Facts) ”SUGGEST” THEORIES (Hypotheses) CREATING THEORIES REQUIRES IMAGINATION SCIENTISTS are REQUIRED to LINK their IMAGINATION TO FACTS . CONNECTING FACTS and THEORY LEADS to DISCOVERY - EUREKA! Theories are often testable; they can be disproven by a single contradictory fact. THEORIES: REALM OF IDEAS

  12. Theories: Realm of Ideas • THEORIES PREDICT THE OUTCOMES of FUTURE EVENTS or UNDERTAKINGS, and OFTEN INDICATE NEW AREAS of EXPLORATION. • STRENGTH of a THEORY = EXPLANATORY and PREDICTIVE VALUE (ex. light; global warming) • SCIENCE: DEVELOPMENT of MENTAL MODELS (PARADIGMS) BASED on REPRODUCIBLE FACTS

  13. Associative Table: Fact vs. Theory FACTTHEORY CUT AND DRIED IMAGINATIVE QUANTIFIABLE QUALITATIVE TANGIBLE INTANGIBLE CONCRETE ABSTRACT LIMITING (Boundaries) EXPANSIVE (Unifying) DETAIL BIG PICTURE TREE FOREST

  14. FACTS & THEORIES Critical Partners in Science • DYNAMIC INTERPLAY between FACT and THEORY DRIVES SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENT • SELF-CORRECTIVE ASPECT - (It’s the ITERATION,….!) • Scientists expect models to change as new facts are discovered or as old “facts” are refined • New facts must be incorporated into existing models to permit deeper and richer understanding and knowledge

  15. “EYES WIDE OPEN”RICHARD POWERS(NY TIMES MAGAZINE 4/18/99, pp. 80-83) Two Theories to Explain the Mystery of Vision Euclid & Ptolemy vs. Aristotle - 800 YEAR DISPUTE Abu Ali al-Hasan Ibn al-HAYTHAM (b. ~ 965 in Basra) Resolves the Issue with a SINGLE Experiment !

  16. “EYES WIDE OPEN” - RICHARD POWERS “Search for the Millennium's MOST Important Concept …” “…no single idea has had a more profound impact or ubiquitous impact on what the human race has become… than the vesting of authority in experiment.” “Nothing, finally, can gainsay the data. Wholeness, harmony and radiance must give way to verifiability and repeatability.”

  17. LIMITATIONS OF SCIENCE • A. NO DATA - NO SCIENCE (If We can’t Measure or Observe “IT”, We can’t Study “IT” Scientifically) • B. NO THEORIES - NO SCIENCE (Science is Not Just a Collection of Facts - • “To Link is to Think.”) • C. SCIENCE IS REDUCTIONIST ”Less is more” Paradox • EMPIRICAL ESSENCE OF PHENOMENA

  18. “THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING”Francis Bacon (1561-1626) “ IF A MAN WILL BEGIN WITH CERTAINTIES, HE WILL END IN DOUBTS, BUT IF HE WILL BE CONTENT TO BEGIN WITH DOUBTS HE SHALL END IN CERTAINIES.” (in 1605) Represents a Shift from a Belief System rooted in the Authority of the State and Church to one rooted in Observation and the Verification of Experimental Fact(s)

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