Post a one-paragraph reflection on the concept of 'doubt' and the story of Job. You may relate your ideas to any area of knowledge, as well as to daily life experiences.
The story of Job is about questions; specifically the question why. Why do bad things happen? Why do bad things happen to me? Who decides what happens and why do they make this decision? I think that Job's doubt is reflected by his questions of why. At the beginning of the book, as things start to go wrong, Job simply accepts them. He trusts that God, who has given Job everything Job has, has the right to also take those things away. However, as time goes on and worse and worse things start happening to Job, he begins to ask why. Rather than accept his fate as he does at the beginning of the book, Job wants to be sure that his suffering is justified. Rather than blind trust, Job asks for justification of his situation, maybe because he doesn't believe that God has a good reason. Job wants God to communicate with Job; either through the human ways of knowing, either emotion, sense perception, language, or reason and tell him why. It seems, by God's response, that God doesn't want to be questioned. He wants his people to trust Him.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Abel: Man is the Measure - Chapter 10
List of Varieties of Explanations
2. What are some common misconceptions about scientific explanations? How does Abel refute each one?
Science describes rather than explains-"Actually, no sharp line can be drawn between description and explanation. If the scientific explanations of why the pond froze and why there was an eclipse are really only descriptions, what, then, would an explanation be? How else would you describe those events?"
Science explains the strange by the familiar-"typically, the reverse is the case. Such familiar phenomena as rust, sunrise, tides, illness, family resemblance, and so on, are explained by such unfamiliar concepts as oxidation, gravitational attraction, invisible germs, and genes."
"Scientific explanation is not the same as "understanding" in the sense in which it is said, for example, that... an experienced nurse understands children. Such an understanding is more like knowledge by acquaintance or like knowing how than like science.
"A scientific explanation need not be a causal law. It may be a law of simultaneous existence rather than of succession. Boyle's Law associates the pressure of gas with its volume, but pressure and volume are not cause and effect."
6. Why does scientific expanation require the concept of system?
A system is essentially invariant to changes in its parts or elements. So, when seeking a scientific explanation, it is good to find a truth that doesn't change depending on the variables, something that is always true. An example of systems used in science is the nerve of an animal.
10. What does Abel mean when he says. "The growth of science is not a clear-cut, straighforward progression toward a unique, all-inclusive final truth." (p. 100)
He means that many factors influence the ": course of science." The choice of questions asked depends on the present political and social pressures etc. Some discoveries also come by accident or because of experimental error.
"Finally, there is the question of what situations are seen by scientists as requiring explanation. As I said earlier that puzzlement may vary with the person and the context. Are there situations that are intrinsically puzzling? or objectively require an explanation?"
12. What is the role of the human element in the progress of scientific explanation?
"Our perceptual knowledge is delimited by our characteristic biological capacities, and there are limits to the completeness of our theoretical structures. But our observations and out theories mutually reinforce each other. If we never trusted some sort of evidence, nothing whatever could ever be tested. The structure of our science is pragmatically justified; it is the most reliable knowledge ther is; it is in every sense objective."
G4P. Choose one Aim of the Group 4 Project and comment on how you met that aim. Include specific references from your Group 4 Project (preparation and fieldwork).
The following excerpt is taken from the Group 4 subject guides:
The group 4 project is a collaborative activity where students from different group 4 subjects work together on a scientific or technological topic, allowing for concepts and perceptions from across the disciplines to be shared in line with aim 10—that is, to “encourage an understanding of the relationships between scientific disciplines and the overarching nature of the scientific method”.
The group 4 project allows students to appreciate the environmental, social and ethical implications
of science and technology. It may also allow them to understand the limitations of scientific study, for
example, the shortage of appropriate data and/or the lack of resources. The emphasis is on interdisciplinary
cooperation and the processes involved in scientific investigation, rather than the products of such
investigation.
The choice of scientific or technological topic is open but the project should clearly address aims 7, 8 and 10 of the group 4 subject guides.
Below is a partial list (Aims 7, 8, 10) of the common Aims of the Group 4 subjects:
Through studying any of the group 4 subjects, students should become aware of how scientists work and communicate with each other. While the “scientific method” may take on a wide variety of forms, it is the emphasis on a practical approach through experimental work that distinguishes the group 4 subjects from other disciplines and characterizes each of the subjects within group 4. It is in this context that all the Diploma Programme experimental science courses should aim to:
7. develop and apply the students’ information and communication technology skills in the study of science 8. raise awareness of the moral, ethical, social, economic and environmental implications of using science and technology
10. encourage an understanding of the relationships between scientific disciplines and the overarching
nature of the scientific method.
__________________________________________________________________________________
I think that my group did a good job of , "developing and applying the students’ information and communication technology skills in the study of science." We really did a good job of communicating with one another. During our first meeting, our group did a good job of brainstorming possible ideas for the project. Everyone participated in this process by being part of the discussion and expressing their opinions. During the field day, our group continually took a step back from the data to talk about it and brainstorm new was to approach data collection. Technology such as video cameras and a labquest were very important in helping us record our progress and collect data. To actually create the presentation, we collaborated using facebook and google docs. This worked extremely well.Even though we were in different locations, we were able to collaborate on the same project. We were able to "bounce ideas" off each other and work together to come up with the best ways to make our presentation. By using technology to help us communicate, we were able to gain scientific knowledge. We were able to work together to analyze the data and come to good conclusions.
Definition of Terms
Paraphrase of a document in simpler or more familiar words
Explain Rules
Analyze what is logically entailed by certain postulates of logic and mathematics
Demonstrate a skill or technique
Provide reasons, motives or beliefs
Refer to the metaphysical universal similarities
2. What are some common misconceptions about scientific explanations? How does Abel refute each one?
Science describes rather than explains-"Actually, no sharp line can be drawn between description and explanation. If the scientific explanations of why the pond froze and why there was an eclipse are really only descriptions, what, then, would an explanation be? How else would you describe those events?"
Science explains the strange by the familiar-"typically, the reverse is the case. Such familiar phenomena as rust, sunrise, tides, illness, family resemblance, and so on, are explained by such unfamiliar concepts as oxidation, gravitational attraction, invisible germs, and genes."
"Scientific explanation is not the same as "understanding" in the sense in which it is said, for example, that... an experienced nurse understands children. Such an understanding is more like knowledge by acquaintance or like knowing how than like science.
"A scientific explanation need not be a causal law. It may be a law of simultaneous existence rather than of succession. Boyle's Law associates the pressure of gas with its volume, but pressure and volume are not cause and effect."
6. Why does scientific expanation require the concept of system?
A system is essentially invariant to changes in its parts or elements. So, when seeking a scientific explanation, it is good to find a truth that doesn't change depending on the variables, something that is always true. An example of systems used in science is the nerve of an animal.
10. What does Abel mean when he says. "The growth of science is not a clear-cut, straighforward progression toward a unique, all-inclusive final truth." (p. 100)
He means that many factors influence the ": course of science." The choice of questions asked depends on the present political and social pressures etc. Some discoveries also come by accident or because of experimental error.
"Finally, there is the question of what situations are seen by scientists as requiring explanation. As I said earlier that puzzlement may vary with the person and the context. Are there situations that are intrinsically puzzling? or objectively require an explanation?"
12. What is the role of the human element in the progress of scientific explanation?
"Our perceptual knowledge is delimited by our characteristic biological capacities, and there are limits to the completeness of our theoretical structures. But our observations and out theories mutually reinforce each other. If we never trusted some sort of evidence, nothing whatever could ever be tested. The structure of our science is pragmatically justified; it is the most reliable knowledge ther is; it is in every sense objective."
G4P. Choose one Aim of the Group 4 Project and comment on how you met that aim. Include specific references from your Group 4 Project (preparation and fieldwork).
The following excerpt is taken from the Group 4 subject guides:
The group 4 project is a collaborative activity where students from different group 4 subjects work together on a scientific or technological topic, allowing for concepts and perceptions from across the disciplines to be shared in line with aim 10—that is, to “encourage an understanding of the relationships between scientific disciplines and the overarching nature of the scientific method”.
The group 4 project allows students to appreciate the environmental, social and ethical implications
of science and technology. It may also allow them to understand the limitations of scientific study, for
example, the shortage of appropriate data and/or the lack of resources. The emphasis is on interdisciplinary
cooperation and the processes involved in scientific investigation, rather than the products of such
investigation.
The choice of scientific or technological topic is open but the project should clearly address aims 7, 8 and 10 of the group 4 subject guides.
Below is a partial list (Aims 7, 8, 10) of the common Aims of the Group 4 subjects:
Through studying any of the group 4 subjects, students should become aware of how scientists work and communicate with each other. While the “scientific method” may take on a wide variety of forms, it is the emphasis on a practical approach through experimental work that distinguishes the group 4 subjects from other disciplines and characterizes each of the subjects within group 4. It is in this context that all the Diploma Programme experimental science courses should aim to:
7. develop and apply the students’ information and communication technology skills in the study of science 8. raise awareness of the moral, ethical, social, economic and environmental implications of using science and technology
10. encourage an understanding of the relationships between scientific disciplines and the overarching
nature of the scientific method.
__________________________________________________________________________________
I think that my group did a good job of , "developing and applying the students’ information and communication technology skills in the study of science." We really did a good job of communicating with one another. During our first meeting, our group did a good job of brainstorming possible ideas for the project. Everyone participated in this process by being part of the discussion and expressing their opinions. During the field day, our group continually took a step back from the data to talk about it and brainstorm new was to approach data collection. Technology such as video cameras and a labquest were very important in helping us record our progress and collect data. To actually create the presentation, we collaborated using facebook and google docs. This worked extremely well.Even though we were in different locations, we were able to collaborate on the same project. We were able to "bounce ideas" off each other and work together to come up with the best ways to make our presentation. By using technology to help us communicate, we were able to gain scientific knowledge. We were able to work together to analyze the data and come to good conclusions.
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