Where Science is Going
What is the scientific world coming to? Is the educated community becoming a "secular priesthood"(Sokal Transgressing) of authorities maintaining and controlling the paths of the scientific world? Who or what determines where science goes: war, society, mass media? Alan Sokal, a physicist teacher from NYU, tried an experiment to show how some very smart people do some incredibly sloppy thinking. Writing an essay suggesting a link in quantum mechanics and postmodernism, Sokal was able to cause a heated debate among institutions of cultural studies that is still ongoing.
The document entitled "Transgressing the Boundaries: Towards a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity" was published in the spring of 1996. Being a hoax, he wanted to see if: "a leading North American journal of cultural studies . . . would publish an article liberally salted with nonsense if (a) it sounded good and (b) it flattered the editors' ideological preconceptions"(Kimball).
He believed that the editors would have known right from the beginning that his paper was a swindle. He tells how he did this.
Throughout the article, I employ scientific and mathematical concepts in ways that few scientists or mathematicians could possibly take seriously. For example, I suggest that the "morphogenetic field'' -- a bizarre New Age idea due to Rupert Sheldrake -- constitutes a cutting-edge theory of quantum gravity. This connection is pure invention; even Sheldrake makes no such claim. I assert that Lacan's psychoanalytic speculations have been confirmed by recent work in quantum field theory. Even nonscientist readers might well wonder what in heavens' name quantum field theory has to do with psychoanalysis; certainly my art...
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Modern scientific trends developed from philosophies of the past, they are part of the philosophical path that a philosopher must walk when undergoing self-reflection. They are a presentation of modern-day prejudices, which the philosopher must seek to understand and overcome
This can take a turn for the worse: if scientists have to have their work follow what politics, religions, and people believe, we might limit what science stands for. Religion and politics should never have control over science, instead they should use science to help explain their own goals. Science should be used as a way to challenge old beliefs and help clear out fact from fiction. At the same time though, science should challenge itself so it can stay true to its main point of challenging old dogmas, as Carl Sagan said in his article.
Malesic, Johnathan. “How Dumb Do They Think We Are?” Writing from Sources Ed. Brenda Spatt. 8th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2011. 85-87. Print.
How Dr. Manhattan's emotion even came into question is because his body was disintegrated and reformed from a intrinsic field experiment particle cannon; his brain has been hot-wired to think with almost impossible precision of time and even the most advanced calculations. It is so important to the story that this h...
He began writing about his hypothesis/ idea in 1864-65, and published the results in 1866. It was not until 1900 that his published findings were
(1) J. L. Schellenberg, Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1993), p. 83.
references to support his claims. It is a very well configured piece, written in such a way
—. From the Individual to Society. Ed. Library of Congress Staff. 23 July 2010. Library of Congress. 06 February 2013.
Fodor, Jerry (1997), “Special Sciences: Still Autonomous After All These Years”, Philosophical Perspectives 11: 149-163.
Polkinghorne asserts that “scientists are motivated by the desire understand what is happening in the world.”(551, Polkinghorne). As a physicist himself, Polkinghorne understands the desire to understand the world, even shifting careers to become a priest to better his understanding. Science asks how things happen, and does not attempt to answer every question. Questions asking why go ignored, as if they are not necessary to fully understand the world and the life that lives here. Science alone
Singer details modernity as “post-sacred” (Singer 24), exempting modern society from belief systems psychologically tied to mankind for millennia. While Western countries may be treading down a post-sacred path for now, the path is riddled with foot prints of countries past that go both directions. Singer believes “Modernity…denotes the rise of secularism and a…deflation of the influence of religious… mythologies” (Singer 24). It cannot be described so simply. Previously modern and developed countries have fallen in and then out of secularity. For example, 400 years before Christ, the Chinese philosopher Mo Zi levied secular thought against the reigning ideology of Confucianism. Mo Zi proposed secular ideas congruent with those of the scientific method and even Newton’s laws of motion (REFERENCE). Maybe Mo Zi needed an apple to the head if he truly wanted his science to be heard. The political takeover of the Qin dynasty and legalist philosophy put a stop to such free scientific and secular thought. In a similar vein, a first century Islamic scholar named Ibn al-Haytham once said “The duty of the man who investigates the writings of scientists... is to make himself an enemy of all that he reads” (REFERENCE). This rings a similar bell as the modern scientific method. Famous science educator Neil Degrasse Tyson has even said that “The reawakening to science that took place in Europe in
Hutcheon, P.D. Leaving the Cave: Evolutionary Naturalism in Social Scientific Thought. Ithaca: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1996.
Dr. Michael Shermer is a Professor, Founder of skeptic magazine, and a distinguished and brilliant American science writer to say the least. In His book The Moral Arc: How Science Makes Us Better People he sets out to embark on the daunting task of convincing and informing the reader on sciences’ ability to drives the expansion of humanity and the growth of the moral sphere. Although such a broad and general topic could be hard to explain, Shermer does so in a way that is concise, easy to understand, and refreshing for the reader. This novel is riddled with scientific facts, data, and pictures to back up shermers claims about the history of science, humanity and how the two interact with one another.
By considering such arguments, psychoanalysis can be said to have no ultra fundamental meaning when assessing an author’s work. For former advocate of this analysis, Frederic...
The advances in modern medical science in the near future are dependent upon the advances of methods and procedures that by today’s standards are considered to be taboo and dangerous. These methods will not only revolutionize the field of medicine but they will be the forerunners to a whole knew way to treat people. For these advances to take place several key steps need to be taken both medically and politically. In this paper I will attempt to explain what methods and procedures will be the future of modern medicine, how these methods and procedures can benefit mankind, and finally what changes will be needed in the fields of medicine and politics.