Humans have many ways of knowing. Where our knowledge comes from can be:
“I am told that…God is the Creator of Heaven and Earth and human kind.” (Authority)
“I feel that…my husband is cheating on me.” (Intuition)
“I have seen that…a wound heals in time.” (Experience)
“I have worked out that…” (Reason)
But each can be fallible. The nature of authority is still a matter of debate. Who gets the authority? On the other side, intuition sometimes provides us with beliefs that we cannot justify in every case, such that of the supernatural. Our senses have been challenged too by optimal illusion. And, human’s reason can commit errors; proof: conflict in ideas. But no matter how erroneous these methods of knowing can be,
to a certain extent, science does employ each of these different ways of knowing.
Most of hypotheses made by scientist that lead to further research and evaluation start with what was said, felt, experienced, or interpreted about.
Let’s say, humanity was told that the world is flat. Then a a practical demonstration achieved by Ferdinand Magellan showed that the Earth was spherical.
Or, religion told that humans are created by God. But Charles Darwin proposed that it could be possible man evolved from apes.
Newton felt the apple fell down his head. Then he asked why it fell.
Authority and intuition play a role in science but ultimately it must be shown to be logical (reason) and supported by empirical evidence (experience).
Knowing these, I can consider as well that science is a better way of knowing because:
1. it is systematic;
2. It is verifiable;
3. It is self-correcting; and
4. It extends from and to the different ways of knowing
It is systematic because it follows an order of processes whereby knowledge is obtained and it is called the scientific processes or methods which is comprised of the following:
- Assessment — the collection of data
- Measurement — the transformation of assessed data into quantifiable forms
Phases of Measurment:
- Identify the attributes (to be measured) ex. Length and height
- Quantify the attributes (into actual measurements) ex. Meters
- Calculate or interpret measurements (for a certain purpose) ex. L x h = area of a rectangle.
3. Research — the use of quantified facts to describe, understand, predict or control phenomena under study; studies can be descriptive, correlational, or experimental.
- Descriptive is a research that mainly caters to the description of an occurrence, phenomena, or anything observed. The researcher does not in any way control the situation or condition but only records data observed about it.
It can also be classified into:
Qualitative — description in words
Quantitative — description in numbers
- Correlational study on the other hand explains the relationship between variables under study. A level of one variable is being studied or familiarized to predict the probability of occurrence of the second variable.
- An experimental research involves a study between levels of variables (dependent and independent) and often, if not at all times, finds out the causal relation of the two.
In this type of study, there are at least two groups (experimental and control). In the experimental group, the researcher manipulates the level of one (independent) variable and observes the corresponding change, if any, in the level of another (dependent) variable. The independent variable is the controlled variable. It is the predictor of behavior or change in an experiment. The dependent variable is the measured, observed, or output variable. It is the one that shows change in the behavior, if there is.
4. Evaluation. The comparison and analysis of research/es into judgment of worth, reliability, and validity.
Science is a better way of knowing because its all scientific knowledge are verifiable.
Scientific knowledge is classified into facts, concepts, principles, and laws, that is generally accepted in this hierarchy:
facts — an idea or action that can be verified; the basic unit of cognitive subject matter
Example: Temperature, length, width, height
concepts — rules that allow facts to be categorized
Example: measurements
principles — relationship(s) between/among facts and/or concepts
Example: Students’ prior knowledge can help or hinder learning
laws — firmly established, thoroughly tested, and accepted as true-for-all cases, principle or if-then statement
Example: Newton’s Laws of Motion
Scientists further organize scientific knowledge into two other important terms which are:
hypotheses — educated guess or predictions derived from theories about what will be observed under particular circumstances or in a scientific study, especially in terms of correlational relationships (if-then statements of principles) and causal relationships (if-then statements of laws)
Example: language acquisition occurs when learners receive messages that they can understand
theories — set of facts, concepts, and principles that organize multiple findings and allow for description and explanation
Example: Theory of Evolution or Natural Selection
If any of these perceivable or observable facts, concepts, principles, hypotheses or theories are proven to be illogical, contradictory,and invalid, science has its way of correcting it. It is not like any dogma that seems so untouchable. Science always tries to change itself and strive for excellence, if not perfection.
Lastly, science covers aspects of other ways of learning, extends from and to the different ways of knowing that in such a way, science becomes the tool to proving or disproving the truth behind other ways of knowing.
boojoie 