SCI2010 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Normal Science, Paradigm Shift, Pangenesis
25 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Week 7
Lecture 1 – Scientific Revolutions: how science changes our view of the world
Progress of Science
Scientific Theories
• What makes a good theory?
o Concise
o Coherent
▪ Can be used to make predictions and retrodictions for all cases
covered by the theory
o Mechanism preferable, but not essential
Naïve Beliefs about the World
• Naïve realism: philosophy or understanding – the belief that we see reality as
it really is
o Objective and without bias
• Scientific methods leads us to truths that are less than self-evident
• Scientific knowledge suppresses naïve beliefs but does not supplant them
• Rely on personal experience and anecdotes, on stories rather than statistics
• Many naïve beliefs are untrue
Normal Science
• Scientific knowledge suppresses naïve beliefs but does not actually supplant
them
• How much evidence do you need to be sure?
o Not all the pieces
Paradigm Shifts
• Same data, different view
• Shift in music in 1960s: Beethoven → roll over Beethoven
• Work at all levels – affects all
o What is studied
o Questions asked
o How questions are structured
o How results are interpreted
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Lecture 1 scientific revolutions: how science changes our view of the world. What makes a good theory: concise, coherent, can be used to make predictions and retrodictions for all cases covered by the theory, mechanism preferable, but not essential. Normal science: scientific knowledge suppresses na ve beliefs but does not actually supplant them, how much evidence do you need to be sure, not all the pieces. Paradigm shifts: same data, different view, shift in music in 1960s: beethoven roll over beethoven, work at all levels affects all, what is studied, questions asked, how questions are structured, how results are interpreted. Did science change our view of the world: our place in the solar system, geocentric heliocentric solar system, replacement of the existing paradigm, elements of old models incorporated, sun rises and sets. Galileo galilee: 1564-1642: gathered evidence to prove it (empiricism, communicated in vernacular, challenges existing authority (scepticism, no mechanism known (occult, role of technology (telescopes)
