Now playing:

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Lecture 1 Introduction to ISB-202 Dr. Mark
Whalon Instructor
Now playing Mike and the Mechanics, All I
need is a Miracle
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Who and What is Your Instructor?
Applied Ecologist
Environmental Policy Expert
- Can He Teach?
- Is the material worth learning?
- What kind of person is he?
- Will he be an easy grader?
What does he believe? What is his Cosmology?
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How much scholarly material will you digest
(books and articles) while at MSU?
Outlandish Example
-10 books and 10 articles per class
-5 classes per semester 100 books
articles/semester

• Three semesters per year
• 300 book articles/year

-5 years at MSU 1500 book articles in Your
College Career!
My Christmas break reading list
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Compare your scholarly activity to the
published Information in the World
Start with Michigan States Library (est.1955)
Main library and 14 branches 4,000,000 volumes
28,000 serial subscriptions (in print and
electronic form) 5,000,000 items in microfilm
and microfiche 10,000,000 items on DVD, CD and
servers 200,000 maps 40,000 sound recordings
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The Library of Congress is the largest library in
the world, with nearly 119 million items on over
530 miles of bookshelves. The collections include
some 18 million books, 2 million recordings, 12
million photographs, 4 million maps, and 53
million manuscripts.
In 1814 the entire collection was 3,000 books.
Today, the Library receives some 22,000 physical
items each working day and adds approximately
1,000,000 digital items to the collections daily.
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What is known in Just Written Scientific
Publications!
Doubling Rate 4.2 years!!!!
Books Articles
Time
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How many books, articles, scientific journals
papers, abstracts, Federal Records, etc. has
your instructor read?
- K-12th Grade, 4yrs Undergrad, 2yrs MS, 3yrs
Ph.D., Symposia, Colloquia, Seminars, 25 yrs of
research and 8 yrs of teaching 150,000 books

• I have read 10-50x what you have read or will
  read. But does my education, scientific
  discipline and experience make me wise?
• Does all of this knowledge acquisition and
  experience make me a good teacher?
• Am I a teacher worth emulating or listening to by
  how I live? By what I think? Or by what I teach?

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How does an instructor present Any Subject given
such vast information?

• Many Profs wont tell you their slant, bias
  or what their worldview is

• Its up to you to figure it out

• There is no such thing as
• valueless teachingthe value is
• in the choosing of the material taught.

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Who and What is Your Instructor?
Applied Ecologist
Environmental Policy Expert
-Researcher
-Agricultural Policy
-Teacher
-Family Man
What do I believe? What is my Cosmology?
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Metaphysics

• Pledge I will make every effort to present a
  balanced or at least both sides of a
  controversial arena of science, biology, ecology
  or the environment. But like every person, I am
  operating from a certain worldview and I
  believe that you need to know what that worldview
  is. There is no such thing as valueless
  teaching, in the material I choose to teach, I
  am expressing what I think is important

- Open Universe
- Science Is a Good Methodology, perhaps the best
for natural systems, but there are other ways of
knowingart, music, religion, philosophy, etc.
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What do I expect of You?

• Be a student! Chinese Proverb When the student
  
• Engage biology positively, your life depends on
  it!
• Attend Class do your assigned readings
• Ask questions in class...

• Learn and understand the concepts taught...

• Be willing to see both sides of issuesopen!

• Recognize your privileged position in the world

• Become a critical consumer of science

• exercise your citizenship...

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Lecture 1.1 Science What is it?
Now playing Mike and the Mechanics, All I
need is a Miracle
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Lecture 1- Goals
1. Define Science
2. Understand concepts of naïve inductivism,
deduction, objectivism, subjectivism, Popperian
falsification, Scientific Programs, Kuhns
scientific revolution
3. Relate these definitions of science throughout
the course to the different areas we will explore
this semester.
Assignment
1. Read Introduction in Textbook
2. Websites FYI E http//apbio.biosci.uga.edu/e
ssays/what_is_science.html http//www.ntu.edu.au/
faculties/science/sbes/resources/kmcg_resources/si
d101/sld001.htm http//www.geog.umd.edu/homepage/c
ourses/600/week01/group2/tsld001.htmhttp//www.it.
swin.edu.au/schil/phlsci/philsci_session1.htm
http//www.qub.ac.uk/phil/courses/science/sci6.htm
http//home.earthlink.net/imaginationworks/memes
/medocf.htm http//www.aynrand.org/objectivism/htt
p//www.aynrand.org/objectivism/
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Chapter 1 First Definition of Science Naïve
Inductivism.
1st Model of what science is
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What is Science?
Science is materialism and naturalism based upon
observation, hypothesis, experimentation
(methodology) facts compiled into theories.
many singular statements
universal statement
prediction explanation
Naïve Inductivism
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Here is a cutting edge concept in a
Postmodern world!
Scientific Knowledge is not good or bad
Its Goodness or Badness depends on how its used
and by what standard you grade it.
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Charcov- The eminent Chemist said,
Whatever can be done in science, must be done
But many believe that this moralization is
equivalent to selling ones soul to the devil!
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Inductivism may include two logical steps
Laws and theories
Induction
Deduction
Facts acquired through observation
Predictions and explanations
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Principle of Inductivism

• The number of observations forming the basis of
  a generalization must be large

• Observations must be repeated under a variety of
  conditions

• No observations should conflict with the
  universal law or theory

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Example of Induction

• A large number of adult moths have been observed
  to have wings

• All observed adult moths have wings, regardless
  of the environmental circumstances

• All adult moths have wings.

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Problems with Inductivism

• Appeals to logic

• Appeals to experience

• What is a sufficient number of observations?

• What constitutes significant variation?

• Must retreat to probability

• Theory dependent inductivism

• Inductivism fails to throw new light on science

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Example of Deduction

• Many lectures on the philosophy of science are
  boring

• This is a lecture on the philosophy of science

• Therefore, this class is boring

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Principle of Deduction

• Start with inductively derived laws and
  theories

• Define initial conditions

• Make predictions and explanations

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Chapter 2 Science Objectivism vs. Subjectivism
Understanding whether science and scientists are
objective or subjective is important in
understanding what science is. Therefore, the
following discussion is not a science model, but
an attempt to understand how science is
practiced.
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Objectivism Vs Subjectivism
Is science and are scientists objective?
Subjectivism holds that man is not objective, but
subjected to his surroundings, training, personal
experience, etc.
Objectivism is the belief that mankind can be
removed from or independent of his surroundings
and experiences while making observations.
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• Objectivism and Subjectivism result in at least
  three concurrent views of science

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1- Scientific Imperialism

• Science is the Truth Arbiter, therefore anything
  goes if scientists say so.

Objectivism is the belief that a scientist can be
removed from or independent of his surroundings
and experiences while making observations,
conclusions and recommendations.
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2- Postmodern Relativism

• Plurality of Truths Science is only one form
• of Subjective Truth, and Science has made many
  errors in the past, therefore science and
  scientists should be questioned, evaluated
  regulated.

Subjectivism holds that science and scientists
are not objective, but antecedents to
surroundings, training, personal experience, etc.
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3- Godisms

• Mankind is created and ultimately Truth is God
  Revealed. Science is a product of mankind,
  therefore science must be carefully evaluated for
  its potential good and/or bad outcomes.

Since Truth is ultimately Revealed and science
is error prone, science is subjective and an
ethical society must take care to evaluate and
judge sciences pursuits and products carefully.
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Approximate proportions of US population holding
the 3 general philosophical views of Scientific
Information
Scientific Imperialism -Based on the
Enlightenment lt 5
Godisms -Largest gt 80
Post Modern Relativism -Fastest growing gt 14
Numerous Harris Polls
Many folks have a blended or ad hoc philosophy,
this information is only helpful in understanding
trends not specific behavior
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Michael Polanyi -- (1891-1976) Eminent Nobel
Chemist
Relativism
Worried about what subjectivism would do to
Science -- tacit knowledge we know more than
what we can tell. Like riding a bicycleyou
really cant tell all that you know about the act
of riding
Paul Feyerabend Postmodern philosopher
Science is not intrinsically superior to other
forms of knowledge
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Assignment Learn the Presuppositions of Science
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Presuppositions of Science

• Materialism matter is made of particles and
  energy. Together they are all there is in
• the universe.
• Naturalism everything that happens, happens by
  natural (not supernatural) means.
• Objectivism the belief that scientists are
  objective.
• Reductionism a phenomena can be understood by
  breaking it into its parts and
• studying each part the parts re-assembled
  constitute the phenomena completely.
• Uniformitarianism all phenomena observed today
  have occurred at the same rate
• and manner throughout time.
• Rationalism Phenomena can be understood
  rationally, with logic.
• Enlightened Humanism Humans are capable of
  understanding the universe and
• objectively evaluating it.
• Scientism The scientific method is the only
  truth generator there is no revelation

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Chapter 3 Science as Falsification
2nd model we Will Use in an attempt to
understand what Science is
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Science The Process of Popperian Falsification
Falsification science the process of developing
a set of hypotheses, tentatively proposed, to
as accurately as possible describe an aspect of
the natural world.
Hypotheses (H0 )must be falsifiable one develops
logically possible observations which, if
established, would falsify the H0.
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Example of Falsification from Induction

• A large number of adult moths have been
  observed to have wings

• All observed adult moths have wings, regardless
  of the environmental circumstances

• Therefore, the hypothesis is All adult
  moths have wings.
• Falsification is the experiment that would
  disprove this hypothesis

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Judging H0s

• Degree of falsifiability

• Clarity

• Precision

• Boldness

• Novelty

Judge Judy
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Problems with Falsification

• Theory underlying H0 may be false.

• Complexity of any realistic test of most
  modern theories is often extremely difficult.

• Historical test clearly not what happened with
  many modern theoriesmost would have been
  rejected in their infancy.

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Chapter 5 Science as Research Programs
The 3rd model we will use in an attempt to
understand what Science is
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Science Research programs

• Hard core theory, often not easily challenged
• Generates lots of Hypotheses

Progress
Degenerate
Problems 1) Politically influenced, 2) Special
interest influenced, 3) Dictate large
expenditures of public funds, 4) Redirect or
sometimes misdirect science thrusts and 5) Often
ideologically driven or oriented. Examples
Geocentric Solar System, Lamarkianism, IQ
testing, Eugenics, NASA, ZPG, Aids Research,
Human Genome Project, etc.
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AIDS research
1981
Present
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Chapter 6 Science as a Revolution
The 4th model we will use in an attempt to
understand what Science is
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Kuhns Scientific Revolutions
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A Scientific Theory is like a pitcher of water.
When one Theory fails its components often flow
into another Theory.
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Lecture 1 Science What is it? Wrap-up

• Human endeavor dependent on the scientific
  community and society.

• Not infallible, often guided by scientific fads,
  yet the best we have.

• Based on presuppositions about how the world is,
  many if not all, of these presuppositions are
  not scientifically testable.

• There are at least 4 ways of describing Science
  Naïve Inductivism,
• Falsification, Science Programs Kuhnian
  Revolutions.

• How you understand and use science may be good or
  bad, but since
• you are a voting citizen of the greatest science
  culture that the
• world has known, you have a direct
  responsibility for what
• science does in your lifetime and in succeeding
  generations.

• An Awesome Responsibility? Agreed?

• Therefore, shouldnt you want to know enough
  about science to be a responsible citizen?

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Science is simply common sense at its best
rigidly accurate in observation, and merciless to
fallacy in logic. --Thomas Henry Huxley
(1825-1895) English biologist and
Darwins bulldog.