Sunteți pe pagina 1din 3

Saad Khan

HPS100

7th December 2016

Essay Topic 1

Student Number - 1003296159

Dear students,

Dr. Minos Talgia of Cambridge University has recently published an article in


the New Yorker regarding how we have abandoned science by leaving behind
the Hypothetico-Deductive method. In my opinion, the acceptance of alien
science does not bode towards the death of science but rather a revolution in
the scientific world and the mosaic of our time which has long been
stagnant. Using a few laws of scientific change, I will try to explain why the
change in demarcation criteria from science to non-science, does not
necessarily mean that we have abandoned science itself.

First, we start of with the Third Law of Scientific Change, which states that a
method becomes employed only when it is deducible from other employed
methods and accepted theories of the time. If we delve into this further, we
see that the new theories we have tested have satisfied the requirements of
the Hypothetico-Deductive method, which has been our method of scientific
analysis for so long. However, as more and more theories became available
from our neighbours, we started to generalize a pattern where every new
theory became accepted into the mosaic. Therefore, switching to a new
method of employment, where every theory developed by our neighbours is
accepted without checking against criteria in the Hypothetico-Deductive
method is the next logical step. There have been various cases in history
where similar logical steps have led to changes in method employment.
Possibly the biggest one was the transition from the Aristotelian method to
the Hypothetico-Deductive method, based on the observations that the world
has certain underlying mechanisms which help it perform its day to day
tasks. This idea then required each theory to confirm the novel predictions
that followed from it to be accepted. We also need to consider that changes
in method are often bought about by changes in accepted theories. The
Hypothetico-Deductive method is based on complexity and post hoc
explanations. The complexity theory proposing that the world observations is
a product of a fundamental inner mechanism. The post hoc explanations
Saad Khan

HPS100

7th December 2016

Essay Topic 1

Student Number - 1003296159

proposing that any phenomenon can be given different post hoc explanations
which are all equally precise. This of course is an abstract example. A much
more real world example would be the way in which drug trials are carried
out. Drug trials are carried out usually in double blind studies, where neither
the experimenter nor the subject have much knowledge of what is about to
happen. This method came about due to observations about how a patients
health could get better due to unaccounted factors such as the placebo
effect or experimenters bias. As our theories of patient care changed, so did
the way in which we had to test for patient care.

Therefore, changes in method employment occur with time. Since our new
method of employment, which we shall dub The Alien method follows from
current accepted theories, which employ the Hypothetico-Deductive method,
it is perfectly acceptable as part of our mosaic.

Now we come to our theories. Since newer theories will continue to be


introduced, we need to make sure that they are acceptable to become part
of the mosaic. This requires the Second Law of Scientific Change, which
states that for a theory to be accepted, it has to satisfy the requirements of
the method employed at the time. We have proved our method employed to
be sound. Hence as long as a theory comes from our neighbours, it will be
accepted in the scientific mosaic. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it
follows the laws of scientific change. Many theories such as the heliocentric
model of the solar system were rejected once, and eventually accepted into
the mosaic as the method of employment changed or the theory itself
satisfied the original method of employment. This brings us to the only flaw
in our argument. We know that the theories the Aliens provide us with will
always satisfy the Hypothetico-Deductive method. Therefore, what Dr. Talgia
fails to consider is that the method of demarcation used by the aliens must
have parts of the Hypothetico-Deductive method as well. To allow faster
research it would be in the interest of everyone involved to adopt the
method that the Aliens follow itself as our method of employment. This way
Saad Khan

HPS100

7th December 2016

Essay Topic 1

Student Number - 1003296159

we could come up with theories and accept or reject them without having to
cross-check with our neighbours.

This is not the death of science but merely the beginning of much greater
and further advances in the scientific community. Scientific methods of
employment of the time determine real science. We have changed methods
in the past, from the Aristotelian-Medieval method to the Hypothetico-
Deductive method, and we will continue to do so in the future. Often a
method has been employed for so long that we start to think that this is the
only way to do science. Scientists have had problems dealing with radical
changes in science just like this one. However, when we start to look at the
history and delve into the philosophy of science, and realize how we have
reached our current destination and where we are headed, we start to see
that the laws we followed are still hold tight. Calling your version of science
real just because it follows a previously universally accepted method is
methodically wrong.

With Regards

Professor Saad Khan

S-ar putea să vă placă și