Science is a broad and complex term.
Merriam-Websters's Dictionary provides the following definitions.
1: the state of
knowing : knowledge as distinguished from
ignorance
or misunderstanding
2 a :
a department of systematized
knowledge as an object of study <the science of theology>
b :
something (as a sport or technique) that may be studied or learned
like systematized knowledge <have it down to a science>
3 a :
knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the
operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through
scientific
method
b :
such knowledge or such a system of knowledge concerned with the
physical world and its phenomena
: natural
science
4:
a system or method reconciling
practical ends with scientific
laws <cooking is both a science and an art>
To simplify, science is both the body
of knowledge and the practice of obtaining new knowledge through the
use of the scientific method. However, science is not always
easily reconciled to people's beliefs and assumptions. Below is an
excerpt from the National Center for Science Education's website
describing how scientific knowledge is gained.
Scientific Knowledge
“In order to understand the limitations of science, one needs to know some general characteristics of scientific knowledge and a few things about the record of works that developed this knowledge.Scientific knowledge is organized around many hundreds of sets of ideas. The number of ideas in a set is few, usually from five to ten. A theory consists of one set of ideas plus many facts plus many lines of reasoning by which facts are used to support the ideas and by which facts are explained or predicted. The ideas, often called postulates, are human made and are established, by consensus, through the centuries. Ideas about the mystical and the supernatural are excluded from science.
All reasoning in science hinges around sets of ideas which are assumptions about nature. If the ideas seem reasonable in light of the facts available, if the ideas make it possible to explain many facts, and if the ideas make it possible to predict facts that are not yet known, then we say that we have a good theory. The ability to explain and predict facts leads scientists to think there is some truth in the ideas. But scientists aren't satisfied. Truly, they are obligated by their discipline not to be satisfied. When possible, they question and test the ideas directly. They question the explanations of facts that others have given. They make predictions and test them by extensive observations and experiments. And
they continue these operations until they have (1) disproved a theory, (2) changed the theory by modifying its assumptions, or (3) established the range of its applicability and limitations.
Theories, even the best of them, are never universal, perfect, or complete. Each theory applies to a limited range of human experience and, even within this range, it may be impossible to make certain kinds of predictions because the theory is too imperfect. With large theories it is impossible to follow out all of the logical consequences or predictions because of the limited time, tools, and resources available. Large theories are always incomplete.”
Keeping these ideas in mind, I would
like you to select from several pairs of articles. The articles are
selected to represent opposite sides of several controversial topics. Choose one of the topics and read articles from
both sides of the argument. In a blog post, you need to 1) briefly summarize both sides of the topic and 2)respond to one or more of the following questions using evidence from the articles.
1. How can there be such different ideas
about the same topic?
2. What factors contribute to my stance on
the issue? What things make you believe the way you do about this
topic?
3. Is one side of the argument clearly
science and the other non-science?
4. Are there limitations to the role of
science in our lives? Can science dictate how we live, what we
believe and what is right or wrong?
5. How important is it to keep an open
mind when considering another person's point of view?
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