ISS 210 1st Edition Lecture 2 Outline of Last Lecture I Paradigms II The Modern Synthesis III Why it Matters Outline of Current Lecture I Cognitive Style II Arguing About Facts III Cognitive Style 2 IV Types of Cognitive Style Mysticism V Common Sense VI Types of Cognitive Style Rationalism VII Types of Cognitive Style Empiricism VIII The Controversy IX Characteristics of Science X The Problem of Subjectivity XI Meaningless Science XII XIII XIV XV Teleological Functionalism Creationism and Catholicism Public Acceptance of Evolution Non Overlapping Magisteria NOMA Current Lecture I Cognitive Style Three Different Styles that seek to answer different questions II III IV V 1 Mysticism 2 Rationalism 3 Empiricism A set of common sense assumptions based on experience that we use to interpret events These assumptions are A largely unconscious Establish a set of rules to follow when arguing about facts Arguing About Facts Facts are empirically verifiable Can be perceived through our senses aided at times by sense extenders fossil bones and DNA exist Can be experienced or verified by independent observers An argument Is a line of reason toward a conclusion Provides an interpretation or gives meaning to facts and allows us to make sense of them The Validity of an argument rests on the validity of the assumptions to underlie it Assumptions may be Generally accepted Subject to grave doubt Absolutely untenable Beware the Panglossian Paradigm the Calvin Effect to tell just so stories Since we know the story ends we interpret the earlier events as if their sole purpose was to reach that end Landau To be science or notions must be testable which can make Arithmetic Rules according to Abbott and Costello Cognitive Style Characteristics Experiences within each style are consistent and compatible Viewed from outside the interpretation may seem contradictory or fictitious No simple transition from one cognitive style to another The transition demands a radical transformation of consciousness or leap A change in the assumptions Types of Cognitive Style Mysticism Private knowledge based on faith that cannot be tested by any other means The creation Research Society holds that the account of origins in Genesis is a factual presentation of simple historical truths The ultimate reality is revealed and facts must be fitted to it No amount of evidence short of an appearance of a creator can help evaluate the accuracy of such explanations Common Sense Conventional wisdom or common sense is the basis of culture a system of shared understand VI VII VIII IX 1 Appeals to the supernatural Thunder and lighting is the Gitchi Manitou flying above the storm Racial characteristics as product of creation The Divine Right of Kings God himself ordained that the King should rule over the society Passes for truth with in a bounded universe Flat Earth at the center Types of Cognitive Style Rationalism Knowledge gained through the deductive method Begin with observation Use logic and reason to go on Formal logic as critique Basic tool for understanding human behavior in philosophy the humanities and social science Employed by the Enlightenment Philosophers to create a liberal society based on the respect for and the freedom of the individual Sherlock Homes Rationalist Based on Conan Doyle s professor Start with an observation and use reason and logic to come up with a solution deductive method Dr Lightfoot and bishop Ussher Types of Cognitive Style Empiricism Knowledge gained by sense observation and using the inductive scientific method The inductive method Observe Hypothesize falsifiable Test Observe Testing properties of eraser Gravity falls The Controversy There is among evangelical Christians for whom taking the Bible literally is an article of faith They emerge in a pseudo scientific debate to falsely scientific findings by pointing out gaps in theory They offer their truth as an alternate that cannot be falsified Demand balanced treatment and use local and State Boards of Education to introduce their belief couched in the terminology of science When challenged in court under the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment where the judges based on testimony provide a legal constructed definition of science they lose Characteristics of Science Empirical Knowledge of the physical world is through the sense aided by sense extenders microscope 2 Cause and Effect Relationships exist in which each event has a prior cause that is theoretically knowable Primum movens What or who is the first mover Big Bang Colonists from outer space 3 Materialist Science proceeds as if material cause and effect is all there is to reality Science does not allow non material cause and effect or it would case to function as a coherent system 4 Objective A theory must account for all the observed data or be revised Object does not mean dispassionate Paradigms 5 Tentative All scientific theories are temporary tentative mental constructs subject to modification by revised perception of existing or new data Science may disprove or improve a theory but it will never prove it Science is a contentious process and fiercly competitive Paradigm shifts X The Problem of Subjectivity What is a subject What is an object What am I to you or you to me Social interaction requires an awareness of the feelings and motivations of others and may explain our uniquely human brain Humans act for reasons or at least rationalize our actions after the fact There is a subject step between observing and interpreting behavior You interpret observed behavior based on A set of assumptions derived from prior experience with that person Similar experience with others What you think your motive would be for acting that way XI Meaningless Science Evolution is the product of a million million chance occurrences that could have had mas many different outcomes Outcomes are the product of chance not divine providence or some 19th century natural law Science at odds with religion while not rejecting evolution interprets biological evolution XII Teleological Functionalism The Study of Final Causes In philosophy it is a discourse that tries to explain the universe in terms of ends or final causes Natural phenomena are not only the product of mechanical causes but by an overall INTELLIGENT design or purpose in nature XIII Creationism and Catholicism Creationism is a homegrown phenomenon of American socio cultural history of Protestant fundamentalists Pius XII gave acceptance to the