BIOL 112 1st Edition Lec-ture 1 Outline of Current Lecture I. Philosophy of Biology/ScienceII. Limitations to Our Understanding of UniverseIII.Aids to UnderstandingIV.Scientific MethodV. Elements of ScienceVI.Limitations of ScienceCurrent LectureI. Philosophy of Biology/Science•Epistemology: the study of knowledges and its limits•How do we know what we know, and how do we learn more?•We get information from the universe through our sensesII. Limitations to Our Understanding of Universe1. Limitations of the senses.•Our sensory system cannot completely input everything.2. Limitations of brain to process information•Our brain can filter out what it finds important, thus limiting the amount of infor-mation coming in.3. Biases of Psychology•Language•Culture•Cannot directly perceive or understand ALL of universe and human experienceIII.Aids to UnderstandingHuman cultures have several "mental tools" to assist understanding of universe:•Religion -- ancient•Philosophy -- 4th Century B.C.E•Art -- ancient, at least 40th Century B.C.E., physical art, theater, literatureThese notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.•Science -- 16th Century C.E., more recent compared to the othersAll are valid for understanding/interpreting various aspects of human experience. All haveparticular strengths and limitations, and are complementary to one another. An individualmust use a combination of these approaches to get a "balanced" view of the world. Can't just use one without the other. One of these isn't necessarily the best either.This is the basis for the "core curriculum" of modern college education.IV.Scientific MethodA "mental tool" -- a way of thinking -- allows us to build models of the universe to un-derstand its actions and predict its behavior.Makes use of two kinds of mental activity:•Facts, Data, Information, Observations — the solid part of collecting information•Interpretations, Theories, Meaning, Understanding -- the "important" part of sci-ence, the creative processV. Elements of ScienceAssumptions are needed to do science:• Universe is material: exists only as matter or energy• No supernatural (God, angels, ghosts, etc.): doesn't mean this doesn't exist, but science can’t analyze non-material phenomena• Universe is logical: cause/effect chains can be established• The Universe can be analyzedAre these assumptions valid? Success of the scientific method is expressed in our tech-nological society. In a practical sense, science has been very useful in the past, so some-thing must be going right.Therefore, assumptions are good.VI.Limitations of Science1. Cannot establish ideal behavior for humans in society; "What people should do." [Philosophy; Religion]•Sociology is the science of what people in societies are doing, not necessarily what they should be doing.2. Cannot prove or deny existence of deity or soul or other metaphysical entities; theseare supernatural and cannot be manipulated -- cannot be analyzed [Religion]•Science fails as an effective tool to make sense of anything in
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