SOC101Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Scientific Theory
Document Summary
Most knowledge: due to agreement and belief/little is based on experience and discovery. We can"t learn all we need through direct personal experience and observation. During conflicts; we tend to surrender our experience in favor of the agreement. Human inquiry: humans exhibit a desire to predict their future circumstances using causal and probabilistic reasoning. Tradition: accepted knowledge about the workings of the world. Authorities benefit life by new discoveries and understandings produced by others. They can both assist and hinder human inquiry. But there could be mistakes in authorities" knowledge. Our daily observations are causal and semiconscious. Both simple and complex measurement devices help guard against inaccurate observations. Scientists guard against overgeneralization by making large and representative sample of observations as well as replicating it. Selective observation: racial and ethnic prejudices depend on so for their persistence. The premodern view: our early ancestors all assumed that they saw things as they really were.
