They preserve information about selected portions of reality. The map: scientific theories are like maps. Scientists try to filter out misleading and false claims. The filter: scientists start with lots of different ideas, particularly in frontier areas with problems to be solved. They gain satisfaction from achieving new insights into how things work. They want to explain things that are strange or unexplained. The puzzle: scientists are largely motivated by puzzle solving. Bauer offered three metaphors for the activities of scientists. In a book titled Scientific Literacy and the Myth of the Scientific Method (1992) Henry H. Whatever it is you find interesting about life, about reality, science can help you study it and learn more about it. Science should not be boring! If it is, find another topic there should be scientific studies of that, too. The subject matter of science is unlimited. What is unique about science as a belief system? For example, Einstein's theories, proposed in the early decades of the 1900s, are tested in new ways every year. Scientists build upon their successes, but they also continually re-check and correct yesterday's knowledge. It criticizes its own assumptions and previous findings. Uniquely among belief systems (if you want to call science a belief system) science is self-correcting. It is powerful, relentless, accumulating more reliable knowledge each year. Science is international in scope, and it is not limited by any particular religious, political, or philosophical system. Science is a remarkable institution in human society. If you are one of the 40% whose early science courses were uninspiring, you might want to give science a fresh look in college. The good news is that nearly 60% had positive experiences. That means nearly 40% of the students (mostly first and second year students in an introductory psychology course) had less than inspiring experiences of science. In the other class, 54% said yes, 28% said somewhat, and 17% said no. In one class, 57% said yes, 30% said somewhat, and 12% said no. I asked two classes of over 250 students each to report anonymously whether they had ever taken a science course they truly enjoyed. The word "science," while familiar to all, does not automatically bring joy to the hearts of students. What idea is expressed by Popper and Polya? "What is the scientific method except Guess and Test?" (Blakeslee, 1978) Retired Stanford University mathematician George Polya put it more simply, at the age of 90. Noted philosopher Karl Popper described the basic pattern of science as "conjection and refutation." Science is an institution devoted to identifying ideas of substance, treating them as maps for real-world action, testing the ideas, then modifying or updating the maps as required by the evidence.Ībove all, science involves putting ideas to the test. Science can be seen as the ultimate extension and development of critical thinking.
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