"Uncertainty is inevitable at the frontiers of knowledge"
My first thought as I read this quote is how it could be truthfully applied to almost any area of knowledge. The word 'frontiers,' implies the beginning of something new, which is always fraught with uncertainty. I mainly think of science, and people who think that once something has been proven over and over, it is set in stone. For example, many people believe that global warming is an impending threat to our society; however, they may not consider that the earth experiences different temperatures overtime, and goes through various cycles of heating and cooling. Although many theories such as gravity are hard to dispute, science is not technically completely certain. A frontier is a borderline; therefore, this quote could apply to borderline/ 'grey area' information in an area of knowledge. Uncertainty is inevitable in this field because not everything is defined. One thing I think this quote might falsely imply is that the uncertainty doesn't exist in other parts of knowledge. Although it might be significantly less, uncertainty always lingers in knowledge. Even in seemingly 'set in stone' areas of knowledge such as math and history, there is still a great amount of uncertainty associated with them. New discoveries that are made through new technology that sometimes contradict what we know to be true. Overall, uncertainty is inevitable at the frontiers of knowledge, but this extends to knowledge that is seemingly 'proven to be true.'
Saturday, June 18, 2016
Ivory Tower KQ
In what ways does emotion and intuition distort truth in human sciences?
A very heated topic in today's news is the true necessity of college as preparation for the workforce. The documentary, "The Ivory Tower," discusses if college is worth the expense and trouble. My knowledge question, "in what ways does emotion and intuition distort truth in human sciences," is relevant because it addresses the reasons why many people still go to college, despite its (arguably) decreasing relevancy. Emotion and intuition are influenced by society, which for a long time now, has established a baseline that college equals a certain salary or status in society. Although it might have in the past, and still does to a certain degree, nowadays, there are many more options to create a different path, especially with innovations in technology. However, society's pressure and status quo's greatly impact emotion, which eventually morphs into one's intuition. This then distorts the actual truth of college's relevancy, which is a main point of the Ivory Tower documentary. Besides societal norms, personal situations may distort the truth, making parents believe their child has to go to college for a specific reason that will change them forever. Overall, many people go to college for a variety of reasons; one of them being the societal belief that higher education is vital for good quality of life in the future.
A very heated topic in today's news is the true necessity of college as preparation for the workforce. The documentary, "The Ivory Tower," discusses if college is worth the expense and trouble. My knowledge question, "in what ways does emotion and intuition distort truth in human sciences," is relevant because it addresses the reasons why many people still go to college, despite its (arguably) decreasing relevancy. Emotion and intuition are influenced by society, which for a long time now, has established a baseline that college equals a certain salary or status in society. Although it might have in the past, and still does to a certain degree, nowadays, there are many more options to create a different path, especially with innovations in technology. However, society's pressure and status quo's greatly impact emotion, which eventually morphs into one's intuition. This then distorts the actual truth of college's relevancy, which is a main point of the Ivory Tower documentary. Besides societal norms, personal situations may distort the truth, making parents believe their child has to go to college for a specific reason that will change them forever. Overall, many people go to college for a variety of reasons; one of them being the societal belief that higher education is vital for good quality of life in the future.
Active Experiment vs Passive Observation
There are only two ways in which humankind can produce knowledge: through passive observation or through active experiment. To what extent do you agree with this statement?
Knowledge appears to be such a broad topic that it can be mind-boggling to narrow it down to two categories. Passive observation involves an observer that makes no impact on the subject or phenomenon of their experiment. In contrast, active experimentation constitutes an involved 'knower,' who manipulates variables in order to arrive at a specific conclusion. Although each type of producing knowledge can provoke different questions about supposed 'active observation' or 'passive experiment,' each type of activity inevitability falls under one of the two categories.
To explain this phenomenon, I can use 'going to school,' as an extended metaphor for learning and producing knowledge. Activities such as listening to a lecture or watching others do an activity clearly fall under passive observation. Even if a student is involved in a group lab, they are either directly participating or watching someone else do something. In a group situation, even if someone is reading directions to their group member as they carry out an experiment, it would be characterized as active experiment, because that individual is directly affecting the results of the experiment. However, if a teacher was doing an experiment in front of the class, and a student yells out something, causing the teacher to get distracted and therefore mess up the experiment, that would be hard to tell. The student, although passively observing for most of the experiment, would still be considered an active experimenter as they affected the results and became a variable in the outcome.
In my opinion, activities such as homework or doing a worksheet in class would be considered active experimentation, even though they are not the classic or expected form of 'experimenting,' For example, if a student works on a math worksheet, they are essentially experimenting if there answer is right, and testing their brains to see if they understand a certain concept. Even in a group situation, the student could switch back between passive observation of their peers completing a problem, and active experiment of contributing to a solution.
The notion of a passive experiment is mostly false, as almost any situation would still fit under each category. Even if you are watching an experiment being done, it is still observation because when you manipulate something, you are automatically becoming involved and thus active in it. If you low-key observe how long your grass grows in the summer versus the winter as a form of experiment for science fair, the ways the knowledge was produced was still through passive observation. Similarly, active observation would mean that you would be watching something while also taking part in that activity, which is almost impossible. Overall, almost any situation where humankind produced knowledge can be through passive observation or active experimentation.
Knowledge appears to be such a broad topic that it can be mind-boggling to narrow it down to two categories. Passive observation involves an observer that makes no impact on the subject or phenomenon of their experiment. In contrast, active experimentation constitutes an involved 'knower,' who manipulates variables in order to arrive at a specific conclusion. Although each type of producing knowledge can provoke different questions about supposed 'active observation' or 'passive experiment,' each type of activity inevitability falls under one of the two categories.
To explain this phenomenon, I can use 'going to school,' as an extended metaphor for learning and producing knowledge. Activities such as listening to a lecture or watching others do an activity clearly fall under passive observation. Even if a student is involved in a group lab, they are either directly participating or watching someone else do something. In a group situation, even if someone is reading directions to their group member as they carry out an experiment, it would be characterized as active experiment, because that individual is directly affecting the results of the experiment. However, if a teacher was doing an experiment in front of the class, and a student yells out something, causing the teacher to get distracted and therefore mess up the experiment, that would be hard to tell. The student, although passively observing for most of the experiment, would still be considered an active experimenter as they affected the results and became a variable in the outcome.
In my opinion, activities such as homework or doing a worksheet in class would be considered active experimentation, even though they are not the classic or expected form of 'experimenting,' For example, if a student works on a math worksheet, they are essentially experimenting if there answer is right, and testing their brains to see if they understand a certain concept. Even in a group situation, the student could switch back between passive observation of their peers completing a problem, and active experiment of contributing to a solution.
The notion of a passive experiment is mostly false, as almost any situation would still fit under each category. Even if you are watching an experiment being done, it is still observation because when you manipulate something, you are automatically becoming involved and thus active in it. If you low-key observe how long your grass grows in the summer versus the winter as a form of experiment for science fair, the ways the knowledge was produced was still through passive observation. Similarly, active observation would mean that you would be watching something while also taking part in that activity, which is almost impossible. Overall, almost any situation where humankind produced knowledge can be through passive observation or active experimentation.
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