arstechnica.com— Two developmental psychologists argue that resistance to science involves the persistence of a childlike view of the natural world into adulthood.
May 21, 2007View in Crawl 4
In response to "If you're not willing to open yourself to possibilities, how can you possibly learn?", I would say that some people are willing to learn by experience.
genshinx, your statement is wrong.((Proof by contradiction, using a counterexample))By your argument, those people who treat science as their religion must also be wrong, and therefore there is no correct answer to any question in the universe, no matter how simple the question might be. However, that doesn't really seem to make sense, does it?((End proof))The use of absolutes is a dangerous technique, and it usually causes more problems than it solves. I don't digg very many comments either up or down, but I am especially prejudiced against black-and-white thinking, which has led to my reactions to your comment. A good scientist, which I try to be as often as I can, knows that "maybe", "sometimes", and "I don't know" are acceptable (or even preferable) answers to a great many different questions.- - - - - - -Now for my original comment that I was working on:In general, I found the argument in the linked article to be very well-rounded, as it critiques the ways in which we learn (or fail to learn) about the universe we live in. However, I take exception to this part:"For the most part, this analysis seems to make sense. We've discussed how science often produces a better understanding of the world than common sense, but it wouldn't surprise me if many people still preferred common sense."Science and common sense are two sides of the same coin. They support and reinforce each other, and they are extremely useful as checks against each other. If, in any circumstance, science and common sense seem to contradict each other, then it still doesn't mean that one or the other is wrong; it means that a Human being has an improper or incomplete understanding of one or both of them. True science and true common sense are both as flawless as pure mathematical computation; the only thing that makes them seem to conflict is the shadow of Human error.
macweirdo42: I think it is a bit deeper than people just being sheep. There is a big social acceptance element there, and cultural impact that affects a person's perception. A lot of internal conflict/fear is usually created in a person when they are questioning a major family/cultural belief system as people are trusting, and that is the cultural norm. It happens with other things and not just religion, such as moral beliefs, the way a person dresses, being cynical etc..most people in general have a fear of going against the grain.
@yougene (#6803421)Do you have a five year old? I have had 2. They take what you tell them as fact. Then you foster the logic behind the conclusions. Start small and simple, move on to more complex logic problems. They become self sufficient with these techniques very quickly once the foundation is laid. My daughter would out logic probably 60-70% of the digg population at 8 years old. Give her another 10 years, and she'll be leading your kids with ease. You build a follower, I'll build a leader, we'll see who comes out on top eventually.
Except that if you treat science as a religion you have no idea whatA. Religion isB. Science isScience is facts backed up by evidence, religion is faith backed up by nothing. So I sincerely doubt anyone that truly understands both meaning knows that science could not be a religion. I know science is wrong many times which is the beauty of science, we can change it. Religion is black and white thinking science is not, which is why we can be 99.9% wrong and still be better off than people who get their morals and science from a book two thousand years old.
@h4ppyYup. If you get dogmatic about anything, you're really screwed. Do you have to make assumptions a lot of the time in order to do anything? Yes, but you should not close off any info that might contradict your assumptions. That's not good. In science, (at least in theory) whatever is tested and is not falsified is accepted, though it cannot be proven true (nothing can). IF a new discovery contradicts an old one, the old one will be thrown out once the new one has amassed more and better evidence.
With hard work and, no less importantly, the right praxis test preparation, you should find it easy to pass the praxis and start your academic career in this field.www.praxis-test-coaching.com/praxis1.html
oohexcitementMay 22, 2007
In response to "If you're not willing to open yourself to possibilities, how can you possibly learn?", I would say that some people are willing to learn by experience.
asdf2000May 22, 2007
This article might be one of the biggest loads of s**t I've seen make the front page of digg.(without being a joke)
genshinxMay 22, 2007
But religion is wrong 100% of the time...
dualityMay 22, 2007
genshinx, your statement is wrong.((Proof by contradiction, using a counterexample))By your argument, those people who treat science as their religion must also be wrong, and therefore there is no correct answer to any question in the universe, no matter how simple the question might be. However, that doesn't really seem to make sense, does it?((End proof))The use of absolutes is a dangerous technique, and it usually causes more problems than it solves. I don't digg very many comments either up or down, but I am especially prejudiced against black-and-white thinking, which has led to my reactions to your comment. A good scientist, which I try to be as often as I can, knows that "maybe", "sometimes", and "I don't know" are acceptable (or even preferable) answers to a great many different questions.- - - - - - -Now for my original comment that I was working on:In general, I found the argument in the linked article to be very well-rounded, as it critiques the ways in which we learn (or fail to learn) about the universe we live in. However, I take exception to this part:"For the most part, this analysis seems to make sense. We've discussed how science often produces a better understanding of the world than common sense, but it wouldn't surprise me if many people still preferred common sense."Science and common sense are two sides of the same coin. They support and reinforce each other, and they are extremely useful as checks against each other. If, in any circumstance, science and common sense seem to contradict each other, then it still doesn't mean that one or the other is wrong; it means that a Human being has an improper or incomplete understanding of one or both of them. True science and true common sense are both as flawless as pure mathematical computation; the only thing that makes them seem to conflict is the shadow of Human error.
panace9May 22, 2007
macweirdo42: I think it is a bit deeper than people just being sheep. There is a big social acceptance element there, and cultural impact that affects a person's perception. A lot of internal conflict/fear is usually created in a person when they are questioning a major family/cultural belief system as people are trusting, and that is the cultural norm. It happens with other things and not just religion, such as moral beliefs, the way a person dresses, being cynical etc..most people in general have a fear of going against the grain.
kspongeMay 22, 2007
@yougene (#6803421)Do you have a five year old? I have had 2. They take what you tell them as fact. Then you foster the logic behind the conclusions. Start small and simple, move on to more complex logic problems. They become self sufficient with these techniques very quickly once the foundation is laid. My daughter would out logic probably 60-70% of the digg population at 8 years old. Give her another 10 years, and she'll be leading your kids with ease. You build a follower, I'll build a leader, we'll see who comes out on top eventually.
genshinxMay 22, 2007
Except that if you treat science as a religion you have no idea whatA. Religion isB. Science isScience is facts backed up by evidence, religion is faith backed up by nothing. So I sincerely doubt anyone that truly understands both meaning knows that science could not be a religion. I know science is wrong many times which is the beauty of science, we can change it. Religion is black and white thinking science is not, which is why we can be 99.9% wrong and still be better off than people who get their morals and science from a book two thousand years old.
tech42erMay 24, 2007
@h4ppyYup. If you get dogmatic about anything, you're really screwed. Do you have to make assumptions a lot of the time in order to do anything? Yes, but you should not close off any info that might contradict your assumptions. That's not good. In science, (at least in theory) whatever is tested and is not falsified is accepted, though it cannot be proven true (nothing can). IF a new discovery contradicts an old one, the old one will be thrown out once the new one has amassed more and better evidence.
jhonblack12Dec 10, 2008
With hard work and, no less importantly, the right praxis test preparation, you should find it easy to pass the praxis and start your academic career in this field.www.praxis-test-coaching.com/praxis1.html