Key terms are italicized and boldfaced.
Epistemology is the term for this, a big word for a simple concept.
The problem with being human is that we are conscious of our existence and our mortality―we can wonder why things happen.
We seek answers for simple questions and for those that go beyond us. Some are universals.
Dealing with the unknown
Explanation―developing relationships between the known and the unknown. Stories, myths, tales, theories
Prediction―if/then statements. Taboos, adages, hypotheses
Control―gives confidence and power that if you do certain things, you will get a certain result. Rituals, experiments
Three responses: Magic, religion, science all use the same approaches
Magic―a "black box", part-time specialists, difficult to control. Accepts explanations without question
Religion―a formalized system with detailed beliefs, full time specialists, social arbiter, explanations accepted without test
Science―systematized observations and tests of proposed explanations, full-time specialists, explanations accepted only with tests
Perception―the five senses, and maybe a 6th if you count intuition. When we sense something, we "know" it.
But senses can be deceptive.
Does everyone perceive things in the same way? Obviously not, due to differences in abilities (hearing, visual and other impairments.
Also position in the environment alters perception.
How can we agree on anything?
Attaching value judgments
Culture
Cultural overlays affect perception. Colin Turnbull―Imbuti pygmy perceptions of size.
Matters of language―Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis suggests that what is important for surviving in an environment is reflected in language, and that, in turn, causes humans to perceive things certain ways. Example: Color categories of Nuer cattle, American ale and female categories
"Received" wisdom―knowledge gotten from someone else who has learned or experienced something in the past
This knowledge comes in many forms
Simple parental training―"Don't run with scissors!" "Don't play with fire!"
Mostly to help us live through childhood when we don't know much.
Complex ideas―teacher, elders, friends, others "teach" us things. How much is true?
Oral tradition―Every culture uses it, even the most complex.
Purposes are many: recording history, teaching moral and ethical behavior, entertainment
These purposes are not mutually exclusive: Coyote/Trickster tales, fairy tales
Oral tradition is extremely malleable―subject to adaptation to current situations or needs
Examples: Simple―the telephone game; Complex: different versions of stories of the Bible, Koran, and other holy books that were first told as stories. Note well: Because oral tradition changes, it doesn't mean that the source is untrue or is false.
Deals with "natural law"―uniformitarianism (the processes that went on in the past are still going on, so to know the past we need to look at the present)
Written word―A relatively recent development, about 9,000 years ago. First used for bookkeeping.
Allows a story or idea to be "captured" and preserved to be told the same time and time again.
Changes the way we think about time and the past from cyclical to linear.
The "present" past to "past, present, future"
Faith is the strongest form of received wisdom, which does not demand proof.
Science―an uncommon, but very powerful, way of knowing
Based on the assumption that the world is knowable, which makes sense.
Demands evidence, which makes it materialistic.
Can't deal with what can't be known, but only what can be observed or measured.
Demands measurement, observation, and other ways of assessing the existence of a phenomenon or phenomena
Hypotheses―statements about the relationships observed between phenomena
In simple terms, science uses strict rules to test the validity and strength of those relationships.
Tests are meant to falsify the hypothesis, that is, to prove that they are incorrect.
As an hypothesis undergoes many of these tests and cannot be proved incorrect, it is believed to be more likely to be true.
No competent scientist believes that even the strongest, most well-tested hypothesis is 100% true.
In other words, what science tries to do is to prove that it is wrong, not right. It never tries to prove that anything is true.
This is very different from other forms of knowledge.
Theory―almost the exact opposite of common usage which tends to see it a simple explanation for something that may or may not be as true as another explanation. A theory is a body of interrelated hypotheses that have been difficult to falsify. Evolution is a theory that has been thoroughly tested. Hypotheses within the larger body may change, but the core relationships are so strong that they rarely change.
The changes in these hypotheses often confuse people into a misunderstanding that the theory is false or being discounted.
The difference is crucial and commonly misunderstood.
Truth is a matter of belief or faith. Validity is a matter of how well an argument meets the requirements of the system of logic within which it operates.
For scientists truth is an unattainable goal, and in fact, is dangerous. However, they constantly question validity.
