The Psychology Debate and Boredom
Resolve: The scientific study of psychology can be called a "science".
Affirmative: As long as you are using the scientific method, you are conducting science. Therefore, the SCIENTIFIC study of psychology is a science. Just like in the other sciences, empirical psychologists can conduct BAD science. That doesn't make it not science.
Negative: Science is only science as defined by the matter you're studying. In the physical sciences there is a stable "truth" being sought- something that will always be stable and that can be discovered. In psychology, you are studying a "moving target". Therefore, there is no stable truth which can be sought. Therefore, not a science.
Affirmative: However, you are looking for a stable truth within each context (temporal, cultural, spatial, etc...), within each experiment. A good empirical psychologist will be careful to only suggest that their results imply "truth" about as much of a population and context as they can. It's stable "truth", just on a smaller scale.
Negative: Because the matter examined is different and results contextual, that should be reflected in what it's called. Therefore, a name other than "science" should be used.
Who won? Thoughts? Opinions?
Also, I don't know how I'm going to make it through the next 11 days all by myself in New Haven. Here are some things I plan to do:
1. File my taxes.
2. Post my break pictures on facebook.
3. Read. A lot.
4. Work out. A lot.
5. Watch lots of Law and Order.
6. Start some new data analysis for my project.
Any other suggestions for what to do when you're alone and w/o a car in New Haven?
labels:
lists,
New Haven,
psychology
3 comments:
i posted my pictures! there are some very cute ones. check my blog.
+ good luck going veggie. we shall have to continue to share recipes.
Affirmative: As long as you are using the scientific method, you are conducting science. Therefore, the SCIENTIFIC study of psychology is a science. Just like in the other sciences, empirical psychologists can conduct BAD science. That doesn't make it not science.
MCC: I agree. It's like early chemistry. So they didn't know what an atom was. Big whoop. They kept it real.
Negative: Science is only science as defined by the matter you're studying. In the physical sciences there is a stable "truth" being sought- something that will always be stable and that can be discovered. In psychology, you are studying a "moving target". Therefore, there is no stable truth which can be sought. Therefore, not a science.
MCC: I don't think it's a moving target moreso than, say, quantum instability or evolution. It's a little worse because it's an opaque moving target, though. fMRI is changing that (though I hate fMRI).
Affirmative: However, you are looking for a stable truth within each context (temporal, cultural, spatial, etc...), within each experiment. A good empirical psychologist will be careful to only suggest that their results imply "truth" about as much of a population and context as they can. It's stable "truth", just on a smaller scale.
MCC: I'm not sure it's on a smaller scale. I doubt many scientists will profess to know truth at all. Even physicists, when you get down to the very smallest details, have very little idea what the hell is going on. That's why there are so many theories, and so few laws.
Negative: Because the matter examined is different and results contextual, that should be reflected in what it's called. Therefore, a name other than "science" should be used.
MCC: So what field is 'science?' Is physics science, or should physics be 'the study of mass and energy under certain conditions of gravity, etc.' Is biology actually biology, or should it be 'the study of biology of DNA/RNA based organisms on earth-like conditions.' That's a crappy game to play.
well, I'm not sure how much of a debate we could have, since we seem to agree on most things.
though, I'd love to discuss the nature of truth with you sometime :)
Post a Comment