science, scientific worldviews, interdisciplinarity and complexity? b gustafsson cemus september 3,...
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Science,Scientific Worldviews,
Interdisciplinarity and Complexity?
B Gustafsson
Cemus September 3, 2010
Master Course, Seminar
Definition: Wikipedia (Karl Popper)
• Science (from the Latin scientia , ' knowledge ') is a system of acquiring
knowledge based on the scientific method , as well as the organized body of knowledge gained through such research .
Scientific method
• Scientific method is a body of techniques for investigating phenomena and acquiring new knowledge , as well as for correcting and integrating previous knowledge. It is based on
• gathering observable ,empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of reasoning ,
• the collection of data through observation and experimentation , and
• the formulation and testing of hypotheses.
- gathering observable ,empirical and measurable evidence…
• Both unconditioned observations (prior to any theory) and observations of results of designed experiments
• Information must be reliable, i.e. repeatable (and reproduceable) as well as relevant to the inquiry
• So, what does this exclude?
• We will get a description we (in principle) can share with everybody.
• Is that all that is ”true knowledge”?
Control
• Actively and fairly sampling the range of possible occurences -- not only passive acceptance of data that happen to be available to balance bias
• Identification and study of possible errors• Archiving, sharing of data, publishing,
double checks by colleagues • Testing by applying (technology)
Hypotheses and theories
• Theories may bind hypotheses together• Formulation of hypotheses -- ”all means allowed”• Science: testing of accuracy of hypotheses• Structuring in theories: if possible - logical, with little or no contradictions: they
should be ”consistent” - range of validity should be explored and defined
Theories do NOT replace hypotheses!
Rules of thumb for making hypotheses
• Ockham’s razor
• You must be able to tell how
one could refute it (Popper)
• How about the converse?
• Search for the most probable
hypothesis to explain the
observed data (”abduction”)
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Testing theories
• Internal consistency
• Experimental verification of PREDICTIONS
Power of a theory -- predictive power
• UTILITY TEST!
• Ability to stimulate work -- and alternative theories!
How to find causes (explantions)
• Time-order relation (A -> B)
• Co-variation of A and B
• Elimination of other possibilities
• Theoretical consistency (?)
Positivism (August Comte): The only authentic knowledge is that
derived by the scientific method
cf Hermeneutics:
Theories of the interpretation and understanding of texts
and also of human behaviour
a more individually centered perspective
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Reductionism:
Enteties on one kind are reduceable to enteties of another, e.g.
• Mental events to chemical events• Social processes to actions and relationships
between individuals• Biological organisms to physical systems• Planets to elementary particles
Alternative? Holism
Critique against the Scientific Method
Thomas Samuel Kuhn (”The Structure of Scientific Revolutions”, 1962): actual methods used
differ dramatically!Paul Feyerabend (”Against method”, 1975): Scientific
progress is NOT the result of applying any particular method. ”Anything goes” Michael Polanyi (”Personal knowledge”, 1958):
Scientists must follow personal passions in appraising facts and determining relevance
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Postmodern critiqueJean-Francois Lyotard (La Condition Postmoderne: Rapport sur le savoir, 1979):”Metanarratives of progress” -- positivist science, Marxism,
structuralism, … are defunct as methods of progress. They are just ”stories” told in order to legitimise various versions of ”the truth”. ”Whose truth” is the question to ask! Is modern science just ”customized for the capitalist market?”
Relativism; may indirectly legitimise other approaches such as ”Ideological-religious science”.
”Science war” still going on. ”Social construct of what?”
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Science is a social activity which affects its world view!
Steven Shapin:The invention of the scientific fact.
Sensual sensation > Instrument > Number
Scientific reality is special. Reasonable agreement betweenexperiment and model. Behind it is a social order, ot at least an agreement between the scientists.
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Robert Boyle (1627-1691)
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What is characteristic of the scientific worldview(s)?
• Common (if you follow the rules). Whose rules then?
What is characteristic of the scientific worldview(s)?
• Common
• => Simplified, reductionistic, logical, mechanistic
What is characteristic of the scientific worldview(s)?
• Common
• => Simplified, reductionistic, logical, mechanistic
• Useful (for whom?)
What is characteristic of the scientific worldview(s)?
• Common
• => Simplified, reductionistic, logical, mechanistic
• Useful
• Confined perspectives - disciplinarity - schools
What is characteristic of the scientific worldview(s)?
• Common • => Simplified, reductionistic, logical,
mechanistic• Useful• Confined perspectives - disciplinarity -
schools • Non-trivial (and even unexpected!)
What is characteristic of the scientific worldview(s)?
• Common • => Simplified, reductionistic, logical, mechanistic• Useful• Confined perspectives - disciplinarity - schools • Non-trivial• Beautiful
What is characteristic of the scientific worldview(s)?
• Common (if you follow the rules).• => Simplified, reductionistic, logical, mechanistic• Useful• Confined perspectives - disciplinarity - schools• Non-trivial• Beautiful• Consistent (”more than we had any reason to
expect”)
What is characteristic of the scientific world view(s)?
• Common • => Simplified, reductionistic, logical, mechanistic• Useful• Confined perspectives - disciplinarity - schools • Non-trivial• Beautiful• Consistent• Bizarre
One example:
•Black holes”The most delightful objects of Nature”Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar
Predicted by General Relativity in 1916
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