The Big Question of Epistemology:How do we know what (we think)

we know?

DolphinsSwim in thethe Ocean!

John Petrak

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Science Trait #1: Empirical

Empirical – Based upon observation through the senses (sight, sound, etc.). Science restricts itself to the study of natural phenomena that are observable and testable, and does not attempt to answer any questions about which one cannot obtain sensory data. For example, it does not ask questions about the purely conceptual (ideas like “honor” or “beauty,” for example) or about the “supernatural.”

Hey, let’s play the ol’ shell game!

Benham’s Disk …what do you see?

Now watch what happens when the top stops spinning (click)

Different speeds may yield different colors.

The Müller-Lyer Illusion

Which shaft is longest? Shortest?

Use a meterstick to convince yourself!

Here’s another, just for kicks: The gold lines are perfectly straight, perfectly vertical, and perfectly spaced apart.

Can you make your mind see it that way??

Here’s another, just for kicks: The gold lines are perfectly straight, perfectly vertical, and perfectly spaced apart.

Can you make your mind see it that way?? (Click)

Suppose you stand in front of a mirror and can only see your face and shoulders.

Which would enable you to see more of your own body – stepping closer to the mirror or further

away?

Optional 3-minute segment from the Minds of Our Own documentary:

Scroll down to the “Can We Believe Our Eyes?” episode and click the Video-on-Demand icon. The segment on mirrors – featuring

Harvard/MIT grads – runs from about 6:00 to 9:00

When light bounces off a flat mirror, the “angle of reflection” always equals the “angle of incidence.” Consequently, no

matter what the distance, the baby won’t be able to see the light from his toes.

Only a taller mirror would do the trick!

Free write…

Science Traits #2 & #3:Interpretative and Objective

• Interpretative: Rendering an explanation for one’s observations. Science is more than the mere collection of empirical data; it is the process of analyzing that data and searching for meaningful patterns and principles in it. Science strives to “make sense” out of natural phenomena. Science usually interprets things in terms of cause-and-effect.

• Objective: Interpreting one’s observations without the influence of personal and purely human opinions, viewpoints, emotions, and biases. Literally “letting the object speak for itself.” Science strives to eliminate subjective influences, and scientists try not to color their ideas and conclusions with personal angles and attitudes.

• Subjective: The introduction of personal views, attitudes, and biases into one’s interpretations. The opposite of objectivity. (Note: “subject” refers to the human self, that is, the person doing the observing.)

Anthropomorphism – A special case of subjective interpretation: the treatment of something non-human as though it were human.

The subjective projection of human traits, feelings, motivations, and thought processes onto an animal or object

Watch the ball roll up and down the ramp.

Watch again. Does anything “seem” different?

Watch one more time.Now does anything “seem” different?

Yay, Me!!!

The human mind has a strong tendency to project human traits onto

certain things …even dots on a screen that move a certain way!

Doesn’t it seem like the ball “wants” to get to the top and is “trying” to?

Try NOT to see it that way? Can you??

“Epistemology”

• Key Point: What our minds think is real is not always what’s really real. Not exactly, anyhow. Science has special tricks and methods for helping us check our IDEAS against REALITY, and to check APPEARANCES against ACTUALITY.

• Lingering questions:• How do we know what we know?• How can we ever know that what we THINK we “know”

is the way things really are “out there”?

• Every academic discipline has its own “epistemology,” or “theory of knowing.” As we’ll see, science has its own epistemology, but we will also look at other epistemologies, too.

1) Creative: Yowza! When you arrive at school one morning, you see that the entire front face of the building and the row of trees along the sidewalk are draped in an enormous, intricate, multicolored web of six-inch-wide ribbons knotted together. Every color of the rainbow is woven in, and the dew-covered ribbons now glisten and sparkle in the morning sun. No one has claimed credit (or blame) for it. Some folks are calling it vandalism, while others are calling it a beautiful work of art. You decide to write an editorial for the school newspaper expressing your own view. What are some possible interpretations of the display, and how would you evaluate them? Most important, explain the reasoning – the “rules of inference” – that you would use in drawing your conclusions.

HOMEWORK“Inference” is the drawing of conclusions based on observations and/or

logical (or perhaps illogical) reasoning. To “infer” is to interpret the meaning or cause of something. Most professions and academic disciplines use their own “rules of inference” to draw conclusions. As we’ll learn, natural science

has its rules of inference, but so does every other field, from art to law to math to medicine. Sometimes these rules overlap, sometimes they don’t.Choose ONE of the following three scenarios. You can cast your answer in any form you want – a meaty paragraph or two, a schematic diagram, an

outline, a flow chart, etc. – just so long as it’s clear.

2) Analytical: A big new poster – donated by the National Dairy Farmers Association – is hanging on the wall outside the school gymnasium, bearing a life-size photo of NBA superstar Lebron James, a glass of milk in his hand and milk on his mustache. Next to the photo is a paragraph citing research findings that high school and college varsity athletes drink an average of 18% more milk than non-athletes. On the wall beside the poster is a sign-up sheet for upcoming basketball and volleyball tryouts – and you’re thinking about trying out yourself. What are some possible interpretations and implications of what you’re seeing and reading here? Would you modify your diet? Most important, explain the reasoning – the “rules of inference” – that you would use in drawing conclusions.

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3) Practical: There are reports in your community of a UFO sighting! Witnesses say the spacecraft was sort of like a flying saucer, but triangular instead of circular – sort of like a sleek, squashed pyramid. The underside, they say, was a triangle, and in each corner was a cylinder that emitted a bright, hot glow, no doubt to provide lift against gravity. A few mornings later, as you cut across the football field on your way to school, you notice three large, perfectly circular burn marks in the grass, spaced about 50 meters apart in an equilateral triangle. Needless to say, this piques your curiosity, and you resolve to figure out the origin of these marks. What are some possible interpretations of them? In practice, how would you go about weighing these possibilities against each other? Most important, explain the reasoning – the “rules of inference” – that you would use in drawing conclusions.

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