Another in a series of posts of notes from a book by a college professor of mine at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. I took the class “General Semantics” from Kenneth G. Johnson in the early 1980s, and found it to be the most enlightening class I ever took. I hope you get something out of it, too.
XXII.
The language of science emphasizes definitions, objectivity and generalizations of high prediction value.
Modern scientific methods may be summarized as follows:
1. Ask questions in terms that suggest observations that can be made or experiments that can be performed.
2. Observe or experiment.
3. Describe the results in specific terms or record measurements.
4. Arrange, order and classify the results.
5. Make tentative inferences, hypotheses, generalizations.
7. Collect more data by further observation or experimentation in order to check predictions.
8. Revise inferences, hypotheses, generalizations in light of new information.
9. Repeat the process again and again as necessary to get the desired precision.
10. The goal of all this activity is to be able to predict. The value of a theory lies in its prediction value.
Science as method is continuous; all of its conclusions are held subject to the further revision that new observations may require. Dogma says: “This is so.” Fiction says: “This isn’t so, but let’s pretend it is.” A hypothesis says “Perhaps this is so; let’s see if it is.”
In scientific method, generalizations are treated as tentative, provisional, probable — rather than certain.
The scientist, by his very nature, creates more problems. The measure of our intellectual maturity is our capacity to feel less satisfied with our answers to better problems. Scientific inquiry encourages doubt instead of suppressing it. Doubt creates the motivation for conducting a particular piece of research.
The methods of science can be used in many everyday problem-solving situations. Note the order of the major steps: observe, describe, hypothesize, predict, observe again, etc. Science is a generalized way of solving problems and is an effective method of time-binding.
