The assignment for this week was to 1) log some data and 2) read the first chapter of The Canon by Natalie Angier, which is titled Thinking Scientifically. Part one seems pretty simple, and I’ve done some data logging for Rest of You this past week using a stretch sensor, which measured my breathing. However, we were encouraged to do some group work, so I plan to meet with a classmate this afternoon, possibly working with a range finder, fsr, and/or stretch sensor. It should go well. As for the reading, it’s short, so I’ve read it through a couple times. Some key ideas I’ve taken are below.
Science:
- is not a body of facts and does not deal with absolutes
- is about critical, hard-nosed thinking
- is comfortable with uncertainty
- is a state of mind in which nothing is taken at face
- breaks problems into smaller pieces (reductionism)
- approaches problems from many different angles
- is more common in everyday life than we might think
- bypasses binaries in favor of “empirical universalism”
- allows simple ideas to yield rich phenomena
- is an aggressive, confrontational, and humbling process
- demands evidence and requires new ideas to be consistent with what is already know
- encourages us to admit mistakes, analyze misconceptions, and improve our understandings