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Exploring Scientific Thinking and Research
Aug 31, 2024
Lecture Notes: Earth Parts by Dr. Johnson Hoss
Critical and Skeptical Thinking
Important to try multiple explanations for a problem.
Seek alternate solutions fitting the available evidence.
Essential to identify holes in your own explanation.
Science aims to disprove rather than just prove an idea.
Process of Scientific Research
Examine problems from multiple directions and perspectives.
Competing ideas in science are tested, and only the strong survive.
Science progresses by ruling out disproven explanations.
Healthy Scientific Approach
Do not assume initial interpretations are correct.
Being wrong provides an opportunity to learn and improve.
Provisional conclusions should be adjusted with new information.
Importance of Quantification
Quantifying helps in understanding and removing emotion from analysis.
Quantification aids in dealing with abstract concepts like geological time.
Hard numbers offer clarity over vague intuition.
Logical Argumentation
Valid arguments must rest on valid premises, building logically step by step.
Every link in a logical chain must be sound.
Occam's Razor
Often misunderstood; true principle is choosing the explanation with the fewest unnecessary assumptions.
Example: Face on Mars theory and unnecessary assumptions about Martian civilization.
Testability in Science
An idea must be testable to be pursued scientifically.
String theory as an example of a concept that's currently untestable.
Testable concepts can be examined, non-testable ones are not within scientific pursuit potential.
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