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Brie Stark's picture

When I think "science," I

When I think "science," I produce: evolution, education, research.

 

As we were discussing the process of science today, I think an important stressing point revolved around the concept that "truth" is a word only used in distrinct contexts.  "Truth" shouldn't be a concept conceived with the notion that it applies to all encompassing permanent fashions.  "Truth," as we came to understand it today, has many focal points that apply to it (personality, creativity, individuality, culture) that weave a story around certain facts and build what we consider a "truth," staying in context.  Wil Franklin brought up an interesting assertion that I think has a lot of backing: where will discussions arise from if there is no "truth," or another way of putting it, no consistent "fact" with which to draw upon?  He stated that it all seems very subjective, with little consistency to base a discussion upon.  I believe that this has founding, but I would offer my thoughts: perhaps we do need to emphasize the fact that there are "truths," but only in certain contexts.  Therefore, discussions could, in fact, reolve around the "truths" that we have understood, but only in the boundary of that context.  In so doing, we could not only explore the "truth" within certain boundaries, but we could also compare that "truth" or a "truth" we have found in another context -- which brings us to comparing two contexts, and therefore we can use those two contexts and subsequently two "truths" to make new observations which may lead us to similarities or dissimilarities and therefore the loopy science method is expanded.

I think that, as a student, we find it difficult to be "graded" if we are thinking too abstractly, rather than concretely.  As Antoinette brought up today, it seems that testing encourages this mentality of individual progress and distinct answers.  However, perhaps it is the process that should be emphasized, rather than the "right answer."  How do we reform our testing to accomplish this?  I think this is a good discussion point for later usage.

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