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I often make reference to Garrett Hardin's phrase "default positions" for
the sum total of things we know about the world and ourselves, that we can
rely on.

"I believe that you start by recognizing that there is a real world outside
your head and that especially over the last 250 years we have discovered a
great deal of reliable knowledge about it. Some of it we already knew as the
common sense we obtain from the experience of day-to-day living - such as
the fact that you can't get something out of nothing, and that when you
throw something away it doesn't become nothing. The fancy name for this is
'the principle of the conservation
of matter'. We also know that when we use energy it will eventually
dissipate into an unusable form. Again there's a fancy name for it: 'the
second law of thermodynamics' and we call the dissipation an increase in
entropy. Another thing we know is that we are embedded in a finite biosphere
on a finite planet and that we are animals that have been shaped by an
implacable process of competition which Charles Darwin labeled 'natural
selection', and which we commonly term "the struggle for survival".

These are the default conditions of human life. If your idea of the way the
world works ignores these conditions, the chances are that you are seriously
in error."

Amanda




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Stephen Uzzo" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, June 19, 2006 9:12 AM
Subject: Re: different ways of knowing


> ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
> Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
>
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*
>
> With all our discussions about the scope of science and what it can and
> can't solve and what should be considered part of the epistemology of
> science or not, we sometimes fail to recognize that science is changing,
> for bad or good. The science of 2006 is not the science of 1906. There
> is a whole field of study which looks at this called the Philosophy of
> Science.
> One of the most concise and informative definitions I have found is in
> the Wikipedia:
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_science
> This sounds a little scary in an age of creationism and pseudoscience,
> but is particularly salient after a century in which classical
> Positivist methods failed to provide reducable results in a number of
> important disciplines. Although remarkable and beautiful science
> (albeit, complex and sometimes impossible to understand) resulted from
> the studies of photons, quantum mechanics, wholeness, strings, chaos,
> complexity, etc., it also resulted in a shift in what science means.
> What science meant to Rene Descartes and even D'arcy Thompson is not
> what it means to us. I believe that science is struggling for a new
> identity which makes room for twentieth century science as not just an
> add on to Classical Western science, but part of its foundation. This is
> why there are so many questions being asked about how everything else
> fits into it. Science, as THE answer to the big questions replaced
> religion (largely by its methods) and now, as some of our successes
> backfire on is in the form of destructive technologies, overpopulation,
> and climate change, the honeymoon is over. Both Kuhn and McLuhan
> predicted this. It is our job as science educators to help people make
> sense of it. The alternative is that science is relegated to the status
> of just another world view amongst the carnival sideshows of
> pseudoscience, spiritual science, creationist science, faith-based
> pseudo-analytical systems, or just simplistic and non-analytical
> thinking in general. Science that sticks to obsolete ways of thinking is
> no better than religion which does the same thing.
>
> Amanda Chesworth wrote:
> > ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology
Centers
> > Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related
institutions.
> >
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*
> >
> > Great reply Eric, thanks.
> >
> > What do you mean by "contexts" of understanding the world? Could you
give me
> > a couple of examples?
> >
> > I agree that science won't provide knowledge on issues of morality or in
> > deciding whether a particular technology is "good" or "bad" but I do
believe
> > the best tools we have in exploring these issues are those inherent
within
> > the larger toolbox of science. Inquiry, observation, skepticism in
> > particular. Testing and predicting the results of multiple
> > hypotheses/solutions/decisions being another. I also think trial and
error
> > and the tentative nature of knowledge are useful guides. The information
we
> > glean through applying these tools can then help us in our debates,
> > problem-solving and decision-making.
> >
> > With regard to the use of technology, science would indeed be a reliable
> > guide. Take Einstein's cautionary letter to the US President about the
use
> > of the atomic bomb. We could predict the damage through science and
> > recommend how the technology should be used. Whether an
individual/nation
> > follows the recommendations has nothing to do with science. We may be
right
> > in assuming that there is a likelihood of a particular technology being
> > abused but it wasn't just the atomic bomb that came out of this
particular
> > scientific discovery - we also developed atomic energy and enhanced our
> > knowledge in several disciplines, thereby allowing us to understand our
> > world that much more. This shows that defining technology as good or bad
> > doesn't make sense and is impossible to answer. Society may define
what's
> > good and bad and then we could perhaps determine whether a specific use
of
> > the technology is bad and place limits. How should society decide what's
> > good and bad though? See above on what I consider the best tools in
making
> > these sorts of decisions. What other method exists?
> >
> > Though it may have come too late, we have also employed science to show
how
> > fossil fuels can have a long-term impact on our atmosphere and place the
> > biosphere at risk. With this knowledge we have placed limits on the use
of
> > fossil fuels and have discovered alternatives that aren't as damaging.
> >
> > We could also say that the understanding that has been a result of
> > scientific discovery does have some impact on moral issues or problems
we
> > have encountered within society, such as tolerance. Science has shown
that
> > the human species likely originated in Africa and that differences such
as
> > skin color are rather superficial compared to the similarities between
> > humans. I believe this has helped diminish racism and promote tolerance.
> >
> > Again though, I'm not saying that science has the answers but instead,
the
> > tools of science are our best guides. I can't think of any alternative..
am
> > I missing something?
> >
> > Amanda
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> -- 
> Stephen Miles Uzzo
> Director of Technology
> New York Hall of Science
> 47-01 111th Street
> Flushing Meadows Corona Park
> New York 11368     U.S.A.
> v. +1.718.699.0005 x377
> f. +1.718.699.1341
> http://www.nyscience.org
>
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