Session Reflection: How Science Progresses
In this session, the lecturer began class with an interesting question. She asked us how does science progress? Despite the fact that no one responded to question, I was actually curious to hear the answer, which came as a shock to me. In the lecture she started with different views of scientific progress. We focused mainly on Thomas Khun’s view of scientific progress and learnt new terms such as paradigm, normal and extraordinary science. Moreover, she introduced some of the pioneers of Scientific Revolution which included Leonardo da Vinci, who made the first drawings of human anatomy and movements and Blaise Pascal, who invented the first calculator. Furthermore, we touched on some examples of paradigm shifts like the Theory of Evolution in Biology and Continental Drift in Geology.
One view of how science progress is the inductivist view. This view sees the progression of science in an incremental and cumulative way. In other words, science progresses when new ideas are discovered, and these new ideas are just added to what we already know. Whereas the modern theory of scientific progress, which is Khun’s view, is that for there to be scientific development, one scientific paradigm must be "overthrown" by a new mutually exclusive paradigm. Khun saw progress in terms of the problem-solving capacity of theories. In short this is about whether scientific progress is best described as evolution or revolution.
A paradigm according to Thomas Khun is the set of fundamental beliefs to which scientists subscribe and which they use as a framework for conducting research (manual). Paradigm is a fixed pattern of thinking thus a paradigm shift is a change in this fixed pattern of thinking or a change in the fundamental rules of practice (lecture slides). Khun also saw a scientific activity constituting of two parts; normal science (research based on current paradigm) and extraordinary science (research that takes place outside the paradigm). He was of the view that extraordinary science results in scientific progress (lecture slides).
Paradigm and Paradigm shifts intrigued me a great deal. This is because I realized that for me to grow as a person, I need to be able to lead myself outside of my paradigms. For instance, one of my paradigms was that to be successful a person must to go to school or have a high level of education. However, there are successful people including Kim Kardashian and Ellen DeGeneres who never received higher level education or abandoned it when they got there. This does not mean I should drop out of school, but it does teach me that it is good sometimes to change your mindset and open your mind to new ideas.
I gained a greater appreciation for this topic, scientific progress, when I was able to relate it to my line of study. In order to change a law or develop a legal system, one needs to introduce a Bill which must be passed by a majority vote in the House of Representatives and the Senate. This is how laws progress and change in our country.
