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Week 1 Thoughts

ashley's picture

One of the things that I found most intriguing was this idea that there is no such thing as truth. But I guess that really only pertains to that which is related to science. I was seeing "truth" in its broader spectrum of everyday usage, but in those instances, such as when it correlates to honesty, I would claim that there is such a thing as truth. For an individual, in situations that they themselves live through, there can be a definite yes or no statement relevant to the situation in which something can be proved.

Hearing that the purpose of science isn't necessarily to prove something but rather to provide summaries to aid in the prediction of the future doesn't seem to add up to the ways in which science had been presented to me throughout my earlier education. Things have always been presented as factual until otherwise proven incorrect, but there didn't seem to be a door left ajar that let us know, as learners, that these scientific facts did not necessarily have to be the ultimate truths, that something could be discovered later on to make an old fact a fluke and produce a new fact.

In a way it reminded me of that first conversation in class in which there was that wonderment of what defines the edge of the universe, what is on the other side, and how do we know. It seems that we should have started with this idea that there aren't truths and that science is summaries of what has been observed, and because of this there can be more to those ideas. It seems important to keep this in mind so that we remain open to the possibility of things being different in the future, it doesn't necessarily have to be better or worse but it might be different.

Comments

sa2120's picture

Intro + Week 1

  Kind of late but, my name is Sophia. I am a junior psychology major and history of art minor. I've taken bio and english courses before, so I am very excited to see how this class will find a way to marry the two subjects. In general, evolution is a very controversial and engaging subject, so I can't wait to go deeper into the assignments. 

Last Thursday's discussion of science and stories got me thinking about how I use science and observations in my own life as well as in my major. As had been discussed in class, science can disprove any story. This comment got me thinking of science through a cultural stand-point. What if the story wasn't meant to be dis-proven? Or, what if a society or culture has built their lives around this story? Would it be ethical to disprove it? As the discussion continued, it seemed as though  science is not used as a means of closing doors, rather, a means of opening more. One of the most exciting experiences of conducting experiments is when you’re wrong. When you’re wrong, you gain a better understanding and develop new ways of thinking. 

 

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