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Conceptual Intelligence
Definition The term intelligence may be understood in many
Custom Essays on Intelligence
Ways it is often synonymous with understanding; it is
Also considered as a way of using understanding and the
knowledge that is understood, in order to solve the
problems met within our environment. Intelligence is
thus the ability to know, understand and adapt. .And it is
said to be a tool, capable of fabricating tools.. In its
practical form, it succeeded in transforming natural
elements in to tools for living. In its abstract or
conceptual form it succeed in forming two kinds of tools
concepts (the tools of thinking), and words (the tools of
communication).
Hartman defines intelligence as . the function that adapts means to
ends.. In fact intelligent behavior appears to be a set of operations
that are subordinated to a given end, aiming at the solution of the
problem. But this definition is not convenient; it is not exclusively
applicable to that which it tries to define (intelligence), for instinct is
also adaptive.
But instinctive adaptation is blind, rigid, stereotype and strictly
specialized. A bee, fro instance, is a wonderful architect in its hive
but if put in a bottle the neck of which is in darkness and the bottom
is exposed to light, it will try obstinately and indefinitely to get out
thought the glass. That is why Voltaire said .A bee is wonderful in
its hive, but outside of it, it is nothing but a fly..
Charles spearman defined intelligence as the . superpower of the
mind.. Binet and Simon claimed that to . judge well, comprehend
well and reason well are the essential activities of intelligence..
Intelligence, however, is not any adaptation. Intelligence is a quick
and adequate adaptation to modified circumstances.
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Kinds Of Intelligence
1. Intuitive which amounts to a quick and immediate
understanding of relationships between things or ideas.
. Conceptual based mainly on use of concepts, it has the
ability of forming signs and symbols.
„FnA symbol is something that stands for or suggests
something else, example .The red traffic light is
assign for the driver to stop.. This relationship is
artificial. It is human intelligence, which endowed
meaning to red light and transformed it into
symbols of stopping. That.s why the American
anthropologist Leslie White claimed that he prefers
to define man as a symbol marker, which, he
though, is more precise than Aristotle.s definition
of man as a rational animal.
„FnThe most abstract and complicated set of symbol
employed by man is language. It is defined as a
systematic means of communicating ideas or
feelings by the use of the conventionalized signs,
sounds, gestures, or marks having understood
meanings.
What is the difference between human (conceptual) and animal
(perceptual) intelligence?
1. Animal language is universal among members of the same
species, which is due to the fact that their language is of a
biological nature. It is innate or born with the animal. Hence
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the animal mind works according to the mechanisms of
instinct. Human language is not universal people living in
different societies speak different languages. That.s why;
.Whorf. argues that the particular language we speak affects
the kinds of concepts and perceptions we can have. Therefore,
people who speak different languages perceive the world in
different ways. For example English has one word for snow,
which as Eskimo has four.
. Animal language is limited to the expression of present needs.
Animals have no clear conception of time. They live the
present moment. Human language, on the other hand, can
express the past, present, and future. Man can detach present
needs from his mind to think of the past experiences or future
expectations.
. Consider consecutive boxes A, B, C, D, etc. We put in box A
candy and we close it. Then we introduce a chimpanzee into
the room; the same is repeated with a child of three years old.
By trial and error both of them discover the sweet. . Here we
can find that there intelligence is quite in a close attraction.,
but when we change the candy to another box B they also will
look for it in box A and after that they would both find it. After
the same steps are followed with boxes C, D, E. here lays a
major difference, while the chimpanzee is confused, the child
goes quickly to the right box. . The child acquires here
language and his intelligence then advances rapidly over that
of the chimpanzee.
Therefore, we can say that one signor symbol means the same
thing always to an animal. The same symbol word may denote
a great variety of objects with respect to man. This
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distinguishing property is abstraction. It is possible for man
to use a word, like tree or pen, irrespectively of all the
differences that distinguish different trees or pens.
So the child has abstracted the concept of the following
box, this concept i.e. . the following box. is none of actually
perceived boxes, yet it is applicable to anyone of them.
What is Concept?
A concept can be only defined in terms as ideas. An idea being
an act or object of thought, a concept is a general and abstract
idea constituted by the essential characteristics common to all
members of a given set. Concept formation thus involves two
processes abstraction and generalization.
1. Abstraction according to Descartes, it consists of a
process of extracting common properties from a variety
of different things.
It is the mental operation, through which we consider
separately, that which is not separated, or even not
separable in reality. Thus the concept of a triangle
neglects that material of which the triangle is made (ink
or chalk). Its special form (equilateral etc.), its
dimensions or colors, and retains only its essence that is
common to all triangles.
. Generalization Concepts have different degrees of
abstraction that can be determined by extension and
comprehension of concepts.
„FnThe extension consists of all those objects to
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which the term applies. Earth, Mars are concept extension to
the planet.
„FnThe comprehension consists of the properties,
which the concept implies turns around the Sun, a property in
which the concept planet implies.
So the term animal is more abstract than the term vertebrate
because it implies a lesser number of characteristics, therefore it is
more general. Thus we see that abstraction and generalization are
closely related, the only difference, broadly speaking, is that the first
is more related to the definition of a certain concept, while the
second is more related to the scope of its applicability.
It is this sense that human intelligence is said to be conceptual,
it is the ability to make these abstractions and generalizations and to
deal with them.
Measure of intelligence
Psychologists have always been interested in the individual
difference in mental ability or intelligence. Attempts have been
made to devise tests that would measure this mental ability. Among
the very tests devised was the Binet-Simon intelligence test.
Binet-Simon Test
The Binet and Simon developed the concept of mental age
(M.A) and that of chronological age (C.A). A child of seven years
old who could do all the seven-year tests but not the eight year ones
was said to have a mental age of seven, i.e. M.A=7. The
chronological age is the actual age of the child. A child of seven
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years old has a C.A=7. A child with a C.A=7 and a M.A=7 would be
considered as a normal or average child. On the other hand, a child
of C.A=7 but M.A=10 i.e. he was able to do the tests devised for
ten-year old children, is considered as above average, whereas a
child of M.A=7 but C.A=10 would be considered as below average
in intelligence.
The concept of M.A therefore indicated the level of
intelligence achieved but did not necessarily give the brightness or
the dullness of the individual.
The term IQ or intelligence quotient thus was added later, the
IQ was defined as the ratio (M.A / C.A)100. The role of the
number 100 is only to do away with the decimal. Thus we can
deduce and conclude that
The normal child.s IQ=(7/7)100 = 100
The above average child.s IQ =(10/7)100 =14.8
The below average child.s IQ =(7/10)100 =70
Is there a Universal measure of intelligence?
It must be mentioned that intelligence tests cannot be
considered as the universal measures of intelligence, because they
have limitations, and also have their serious shortcomings. So we
cannot compare a child from a country and another from another
country and even if the child comes from the same country the
standardization maybe out of the date or inadequate in the first
place. It may show either the first child is more intelligent or less
intelligent.
The validity of an intelligence test depends on how it was
standardized. No intelligence test can be devised to measure pure
intelligence, all of them, to a large degree, depend on the cultural
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and educational background of the individual, and hence can only be
specific but not general. I.e. a test used in the U.S.A cannot be used
with valid results in France or in the Middle east or vice versa. So
changes between cultures cause differences in result and also urban
and rural cause a change in the result.
Finally we may conclude that intelligence is the main tool of
adaptation, yet its functioning surpasses the limits and requirements
of this process to a higher level, where it satisfies man.s curiosity
for knowledge through grasping relationships and forming
generalizations. It is a general competence that may rule the
functioning of the mind as a whole, yet it is specialized in minor
tasks and has special abilities. It can be measured, and thus we can
distinguish the IQ level of a person, yet we have to be careful about
the limitations of tests.
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Discursive Thought
Definition Thought may be defined as any operation which
involves intelligence, that is, the faculty of
understanding .It is a particular operation of intelligence
it is first of all judgment, the essential act of thought
is judgment. I.e. an act of affirmation (the sky is blue) or
negation (snow is not hot). And as .Kant. said
. Intuition and concepts constitute the elements of all our
knowledge..
Kinds or Types of thought
1. Intuitive thoughts (or intuition), it yields certain judgments
directly, so it is defined as direct and immediate knowledge. It
reveals the individual qualities of real things. It is live thought which
has become one with its object.
So according to .Kant. . All thought must, directly or
indirectly.relate ultimately to intuitions, and therefore, . to
sensibility, because in no other way can an object be given to us..
To John Locke, intuition supplies us with the most certain form of
knowledge.
. Discursive thought (or reasoning) is directly after the
intervention of reasoning. Reasoning, the operation of discursive
thought is organized to operate according to definite principles and
rules, which, in fact, constitute the subject matter of all logical
studies. For example I may notice that there is light in the
neighbor.s window and I will directly make the following
judgments the windows are opened, or my neighbor.s room is lit.
This judgment was possible due to a sensory intuition which is the
main source of
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our knowledge of the world around us, it supplies the scientist with
facts and relationships as well as ideas that cannot be, or are not
proved, and consequently, leads to sure and exact knowledge.
But there is another possible judgment, that is .my neighbor is at
home.. Now this judgment cannot be reached as directly as the first
ones. I must have reasoned approximately in the flowing way .
since my neighbor couldn.t have left the lights on and gone out,
because he usually put them off, then he must be at home. .Thus the
judgment. my neighbor is at home was reached indirectly through a
reasoning or a discourse.
Characteristics of Intuition
a. Intuitive knowledge is direct and immediate vision of our
interior states it is also called Psychological intuition. I need no
proof to know whether I am sad, happy, or afraid, I rather feel it
directly.
b. Intuition reveals it s objects in its special and concrete reality.
c. Intuition is not always communicable. If I talk about the redness
of a rose to a blind man there is no chance of his .seeing. what i
mean.
d. Intuition is directly connected with its content. Let us take a
statement of the form . All x.s are y.s. it can be intuitively true
if (x.s) are replaced by dogs and if (y.s) are replaced by
animals, but not the other way around.
Characteristics of Discursive thought
„FnDiscursive thought is indirect and mediate for it involves the
interposing of an argument.
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„FnDiscursive thought deals with abstractions. For example Socrates
is concrete individual known by sensory intuition, but man in
general is an abstract and universal concept.
„FnDiscursive knowledge, by virtues of its very definition (discourse
=speech), is communicable. An intelligent blind man can
perfectly understand a course in optics, provided he knows the
definitions and principles of this science, even if he cannot see a
single ray of light.
„FnDiscursive thought, by virtue of it.s being abstract, can be easily
formalized. For example the following syllogism
All x.s are y.s
A is an x
Therefore A is a y
Is true even if we don.t know nothing-about x.s, y.s and A.s. But
the following syllogism
All the men are vertebrates
I am a vertebrate,
Therefore I am a man
Is incorrect even if it is intuitively verifiable. What is wrong in it
is its form. For here is another example with the same form
All men are vertebrates
Pussycat is a vertebrate
Therefore pussycat is a man
Where the conclusion is not intuitively verifiable.
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Conclusion
Science, or human knowledge in general, is based upon theses
two types of thought intuitive and discursive. No one of them is
sufficient in itself to build knowledge- they complement each
other. Although intuition may play an important role in the
processes of thinking, it must not be forgotten that the essence of
all scientific knowledge is discursive thought or reasoning.
Intuition plays an important role in induction as well as in
deduction. In the case of induction it helps us to pass from the
particular to the general .in the case of deduction, intuition helps us
to guess, it prepares the way for reason to demonstrate and prove.
An .idea. or a hypothesis is often the product of intuition, which
serves as starting point in mathematical proofs.
So intuitive knowledge is immediately certain and cannot be
doubted. Here the mind sees a necessary connection. I.e. the mind
sees the truth directly instead of having to reach it through an
intermediary.
Demonstrative or discursive knowledge is less easy and less
clear. It consists of knowing a connection that we do not
immediately see. .Demonstrative knowledge is in fact nothing but
a chain of intuition..
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Analysis and Synthesis
. All knowledge, it was said, is a process of analysis between two
synthesis..
The human mind has two higher activities
„FnAn activity of dissociation through which it is capable of
separating the elements of a mental whole.
„Fn An activity of combination through which it builds new
mental who less.
Analysis and synthesis are the current applications of there two
mental processes.
The Different forms of Analysis
Analysis is the process of decomposing a whole, theoretically
or practically into its constituent elements, and not to its parts, for a
part might not be simpler than the whole but only smaller. A piece
of chalk is made of the same elements as a whole chalk.
Analysis may be either ideal (theoretical) or real. An ideal or
theoretical analysis is concerned with the ideas f things and not with
things themselves. It consists of decomposing these things mentally
while real analysis is concerned with the ideas of things and not with
things themselves. It consists of decomposing these things mentally
while real analysis is, on the contrary, concerned with actually,
isolating the elements of the real object itself, e.g. chemical
analysis. However, a real analysis is not always and necessarily a
material analysis. Foe when we distinguish in an electric current its
intensity, tension etc, we are making a real analysis.
Analysis may be rational or experimental, depending on
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whether what it deals with is abstract or empirical. It is rational in
the case of algebraic analysis and experimental in the case of
physics or chemistry.
The Different forms of Synthesis
Synthesis is the converse of analysis, it is the process of
reconstructing the whole out of its simple elements, i.e. those
elements that were isolated through analysis.
Like analysis, it may ideal such as the construction of theories,
or real such as a chemical synthesis. It also may be rational as in
constructive deduction in mathematics and especially in geometry,
or experimental such as the various theories on the nature of light,
electromagnetism, quantum, etc.
The Respective roles of analysis and synthesis
Obviously, analysis and synthesis have different roles. We can
safely, with some simplification though, that analysis is more of a
process of research and discovery while synthesis is more likely to
be a method of teaching what was discovered by analysis. However,
this doesn.t mean that analysis should be excluded from education.
On the contrary, it is essential to train the learners in the art of
research, i.e. analysis.
Thus we may conclude that analysis and synthesis are not only
(or exclusively) two different methods but rather two
complementary processes for there is no synthesis without a
preceding analysis and no analysis can be taken for granted without
the counter checking of synthesis as it is so often the case in
chemistry.
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It is said .All knowledge is an analysis between two synthesis.,
what does this statement mean, justify it?
The first knowledge one obtains of an object maybe confused,
and therefore in need of analysis. Through analysis we discover the
particular or individual properties of the object. This process of
analysis is repeated over and over again, leading to knowledge of
individual properties of a number of similar objects. The mind then
recognizes that some properties are common to different objects it
observed. It synthesizes those common properties together, thus
forming a concept or a general law.
Neither analysis alone, nor synthesis alone can yield real
knowledge. The spontaneous synthesis is a crude perception of
objects; it is the unclear and natural. It does not involve a concept
and thus it lacks a real cognitive role. It is best represented through
the example of the mind of a child in the pre conceptual stage,
where it has the potential to obtain knowledge, and yet it lacks the
maturity to do so.
The above stage only prepares the mind to the second stage
where the mind analyzes the given representation to obtain a
detailed knowledge about its different quantities. Here, too, our
knowledge is incomplete; it is knowledge of a concrete object, an
individual object that exists here and now.
Our knowledge is completed when the mind through an act of
synthesis constructs the common properties that it obtained through
analysis into one concept or law. Yet if the mind synthesized the law
without analysis its conclusion would be false, since it would not be
based on facts, which are obtained only through analysis.
If a scientist hypothesized . all metals expand by heat.,
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without any observation of, or experimentation on metals, then what
value would his hypothesis have! For that reason it is said
.synthesis without analysis, false science; analysis without
synthesis, incomplete science. .
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Experimental Sciences
Definition Experimental sciences rely basically on experimentation
as a method for attaining truth. Their subject matter is not
a prior, like that of mathematics it is rather a posteriori. In
experimental sciences we do not deal with mental
creations or inventions, we rather deal with real or
concrete things, actually deals with laws governing these
real things.
Steps or phases Experimental Sciences consists of
1. The Observation of Facts Observation is the first step in the
experimental method. It is defined as the direction of the senses
organs towards a natural phenomenon and the perception of its
properties and the changes, which occur to it. It is based on
empirical intuition, namely sensory intuition.
„Fn Forms and Properties we distinguish usually between two
forms of observation common and scientific.
- Common observation is unsystematic. The common
man carries it out haphazardly, unintentionally, as a function of
circumstances and without order. It is usually identified as an act
of common perception. Common observation is mostly simple. It
depends on the mere sense organs with the advance of technology
scientific observation has a change of recording certain
phenomena, which could not be recorded before, due to limited
power of the sense organs.
- Scientific observation, on the other hand, may start
accidental (such cases are exceptional, yet it is always
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Followed by a deliberate, intentional, direct and systematic
plan. Scientific observation must be precise and perfect. To
be precise means to record all details, circumstances and
conditions. Hence observation must be complete. It is the
ultimate aim of a scientist to account for all observed
features of phenomena. The seemingly negligible
importance of some factors may prove, on further analysis
to be untrue. Ex very slight symptoms that were
unaccounted for prove, sometimes to be indications of
dangerous diseases, such as the relation between the
changes in the form or color of skin moles, and cancer.
Scientific observation must be objective. To be objective or
impartial means to record facts without any preconceived
ideas, and to put side all personal or subjective feelings and
desires.
- Observation as a whole, sometimes involves certain
errors. Errors are usually due to the complexity of
conditions, and the non-ability of the observer to put
aside all his preconceives ideas while recording ideas.
Value Observation plays an important role in science. It
constitutes the foundation of all scientific structures, since it
supplies the scientist with facts without which his whole work
would become a matter of fruitless speculation. Observation plays
an important role in science for it suggest and hypothesis. Through
common and daily observation, Galileo discovered the laws of the
pendulum and Torricelli discovered his theory of atmospheric
pressure.
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Scientific observation is the main tool, together with
experimentation, which is, a scientist uses for the verification of a
hypothesis. Ex to find out whether metals expand by heat, simply
we have to observe and measure changes, which occur to them when
heated.
. The formation of hypothesis to explain facts the hypothesis
is an attempt at understanding and exploring particular facts, which
are obtained through observation and experiments. It can be defined
also as interception offered by a scientist aiming at the explanation
of some natural phenomena. It does not express a final judgment,
and thus many different hypotheses can be suggested for the
explanation of the same natural phenomena.
- Forms hypothesis has two forms mythical and
scientific. We call a hypothesis mythical when it explains
natural phenomena by supernatural causes, hence it
cannot be experimentally verified. Ex nature observes
vacuum, this is mythical because people abhores, that is,
primitive people explained thunder as the wrath of gods,
a good harvest as a result of scarifies. Scientific
hypothesis, on the other hand has its roots in the tangible
facts. It can be verified experimentally. It must be self-
contradictory.
- Conditions of Formation Hypothesis formation is
conditioned by external and internal factors. External
factors may suggest a hypothesis. They consist of
instances observes by scientist, which attract his
attention, impress him as significant, and thus suggest a
new idea or a hypothesis (empirical). Internal factors
consist of the past experience and knowledge of the
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Scientist, his intelligence, as well as his creative
imagination (intellectual independence). These conditions
give the scientist some intimation, insight, of what
significant data to look for. They are very effective,
especially in the case of the more advances sciences, where
the hypothesis appears as a suggestion explaining not
observations but rather laws already attained.
- Values The hypothesis leads the scientific activity. It is
only in the light of an accepted hypothesis that the
scientist knows where to look for significant data and
what experiments he has to undertake to detect it.s
validity. Leonardo De Vinci, expressed the importance of
the hypothesis in leading the scientific activity as
follows . those who fall in love with practice without
science are like a sailor who enters a ship without a helm
or a compass, and who never can be certain where he is
going ..
. Verification of the hypothesis by experiments Any
hypothesis is subject to doubt before it is being accepted.
The doubtful attitude does not aim at negating all truth,
but rather aims t reaching certitude. Claude Bernard
claimed . An explanation should not be adopted unless
all had been done to destroy it and only after it has
shown its resistance to all the attempts of destruction ..
The process of doubting and proving is called
verification. Verification is defined as the process
through which the falsity of any hypothesis is examined.
So a hypothesis is accepted as long as it applies to facts.
When showing the importance of testing the hypothesis.
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Galileo indicated that we must not only demonstrate we
must observe in order to discover whether our
demonstrations are relevant to the actual physical world.
Hence, verification involves a process of experimentation.
Experiments are deliberately undertaken observations,
which are arranged to answer a definite question. Variation
is most fruitful when the scientist succeeds in creating
conditions in which one factor can be varied at a time
independently of other factors.
Some hypotheses can be verified directly. Usually such
hypotheses are connected with specific events or situation. Some
other hypothesis can be verified, for instance air pressure, only
indirectly. That purpose is attained by deducing from the proposition
to be verified one or more propositions, which are capable of being
tested or verified directly. If the inferred consequent came to be true,
the hypothesis when would be confirmed, but we have not to be
extremely optimistic here, for sometimes the consequent might be
true even though the premises from which it was deduced are not.
Therefore, verification involves a process of inductive reasoning,
which leads to conclusions that are highly probable, it cannot lead to
absolute truth, that is due to the fact that the scientist depends on a
limited number of facts to reach a conclusion which applies to an
infinite number of facts or cases. When hypothesis is confirmed by
any reliable and qualified number of scientists it becomes a
scientific law. The law would be accepted unless future facts or
discoveries contradict it. In this case it would either be rejected
altogether or at least modified.
Scientific Laws
The ultimate aim of scientists is the formation of scientific laws.
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They attain this goal when the verified hypothesis proves . it is
resistance to all attempts of destruction .. A scientific law is defined
as a constant relationship between natural phenomena.
- Are laws causal relationships?
Scientific laws constitute the elements of the phase after the
last action in the experimental method. Scientists were always
interested in finding the causes of things. The word cause mean that
which produces and effect. According to Comte, men found a
supernatural cause for every natural phenomenon, during the
theological stage. In the present stage, which he called the positive
stage, men are no more interested in finding the ultimate causes of
things; they rather seek a description of how things occur.
- Are there any necessary connections?
Through the process of verification we could see that when
past events confirm the hypothesis it becomes a scientific law. But
can we prove that future events will confirm it as well? A physical
law is the formulation of some uniformity, but what are the logical
grounds for the belief in the uniformity of nature? Are there, or are
there not, necessary relationships that bind natural phenomena
together.
Affirmation of Determinism
Some philosophers think that nature is organized according to
a mathematical structure. Everything is well organized to function
according to a predetermined law. Other philosophers believe that
natural phenomena occur accidentally to divine will, which can
change the course of events as it want, and in any direction that it
chooses. However, when scientists seek truth they think of the world
as a structure that is governed by determinism. They believe that
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Under the same conditions the same causes result in the same
effects. Chance and miracles are occurrences, which contradicts
natural laws only apparently. They arte rather connected with
phenomena that occur under very complex conditions, which render
the available instruments of research unable to explore their real
nature.
Religious and Scientific support of chance
On the contrary, most f the Holy Scriptures as well as some
reported individual experiences or any events that do not follow the
principle of determinism, suggest the existence of chance and
miracles. Werner Heisenberg stated in his famous . uncertainty
principle . that there is an inherent in determinacy in the very nature
of the quantum lays of physical motion. Ex in trying to determine at
the same time the position and the velocity of an electron, the error
involved is of such a magnitude that it approaches the quantity to be
measured. Thus, there are limits to what we can observer, these
limits are imposed both by chance, or the statistical nature of natural
phenomena and by the accuracy that we use to measure these
phenomena.
Meaning of the term truth in science
The aim of science is to attain truth. But one may ask, what
does the term truth mean in science?
Truth in science consists of a description of facts and relationships
between them. The method employed for this purpose, specifically
the experimental method, consists of an inductive process that
promises nothing more than attaining high probability. Truth is
statistical not absolute.
- Value scientific laws have great practical importance, they
help man to foretell the future when a scientist states that all
metals expand by heat, he means all metals everywhere and at
all times.
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Mathematics
Definition Mathematics is the science of numbers and operations,
combinations, and abstractions. So mathematics can be
defined as .The science of quantities and measurements..
mathematical truths are demonstrated, that is, connected
rigorous deduction to propositions posited as true
definitions, axioms, and postulates. The emergence of
non-Euclidean geometries is an indication that whatever
so called sense experience was at the origin of the
Euclidean one cannot be summoned to explain their totally
different notions.
The Role of Mathematics in Science Mathematics is the science of
numbers and qualities. It measures, transforms qualities into
quantities and thus renders our knowledge of things more precise and
accurate. There is little doubt that mathematics has influenced our
understanding of the natural word, it has been said that the world is
mathematical at the deepest level, whether mathematical knowledge
comes to us as a result of some connection to natural phenomena is
another matter.
Pythagoras in 6th century taught, . Numbers govern the world.,
while Aristotle in the 4th century thought that mathematics is the
science of quantities and the science of nature is concerned with
qualities. Thus have a little to do with each other. Descartes too said
. mathematics can make all arts and crafts easier and lessen man.s
work.. this however, ceased to be the case with the advent of the 17th
century, when Kepler discovered that the trajectory of marks is an
ellipse, when Galileo had the idea of using mathematical formulas to
study nature. He gave an algebraic expression to free-fall. Newton
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Called his book Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica
(mathematical principles of natural philosophy). Thus the
Pythagorean vie seemed to be vindicated by modern physics, but not
quite. The major difference is while the Pythagoras saw numbers as
realities, the modern physics views them as operational symbols. For
him, numbers don not . govern. the world. They are used as an
adequate instrument to translate the relations between its various
components. Even since the 17th century mathematics became the
preferred means of expressing laws and principles with complete
precision. They are now the . Esperanto of Reason., that is a
universal language currently spoken by the physicist, the chemist, and
more recently by the biologist, and today by the psychologist, the
economist and the sociologist. Mathematical models are used in these
sciences (think of Mendel.s statistics and statistical in both
psychology an sociology). It is precisely because scientific
knowledge is concerned with measurements, in quantitative
variations, that it can only use the mathematical language. Its progress
is linked to the progress of mathematical formalism as much as it is to
that in instruments and experimental techniques.
Mathematical expression has many advantages chief among them is
that
- It is economical. The same differential equations are
used in electrostatics, hydrodynamics, and the
thermodynamics.
- It is concise. MM./D^ express briefly and correctly a
long statement.
Mathematics, above all, has it.s own intrinsic value. Geometry and
mechanics can be considered the direct applications of mathematics.
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There is no science but of the measurable Mathematics is the
science of magnitudes, that is of all that increases or decreases in
number pr space. Quantifiable factors and relations are the backbone
of the experimental sciences whose method consists of three major
steps
o Observation of facts
o Formulation of a hypothesis
o Experimental verification of this hypothesis
In order to establish a law, a principle, or any scientific truth,
the scientist in the experimental sciences relies heavily on
measurements in the course of this threefold method. To illustrate
Torricelli who invented the concept of air pressure had to make
various measurements during his observation of the site of the water
well in Florence in order to suppose a possible relation between the
fact of the well being too deep (deeper than the equivalent of 10.
m) and the fact that the water not coming up in the pipe. Then he
had to make another measurement in the formulation of the
hypothesis and during the experiments he made with the mercury
tube.
Moreover, . to discover a new instrument capable of
measuring qualitative phenomena that had never lend itself to
qualifiedly measurements is, according to Louis Rougier, to usher in
a new chapter in science. La voisier created chemistry the day he
decided to use a balance, Berthelot founded thermo chemistry the
day he utilized a calorimeter..
Thus we see how indispensable is measurement in scientific
knowledge.
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Scientific Knowledge and its Characteristics
Scientific knowledge and common knowledge The word science
has always been a synonym of knowledge and an antonym of
ignorance. What kind of knowledge is it? Science can be defined as
that form of knowledge, which is sure and certain, objective,
qualitative and organized or formulated into a law.
- Common Knowledge Historically and individually, the first
of knowledge is common knowledge. It is the body knowledge
gained through one.s daily experience and the cumulative
experience of mankind. The first characteristic of this knowledge is
the confusion of the subjective and the objective. I perceive the
world the way I am, that is, to a large extent the way I was brought
up. And I believe that I perceive it as it is. I share in the prevailing
illusions, superstitions, and misconceptions spontaneously lurking in
language. The waters are sleeping, the sum is setting, and the sky is
blue, etc, as if sky was something out there. I project on the world
what I have been taught to believe.
Common knowledge is also characterized by its heavy reliance
on spontaneous perception. This perception, however, is not
accurate, precise, for the following reasons
o It reveals a world of apparent qualities such colors,
sounds, scents and is therefore limited to our sense
perception.
o It decomposes this world into pseudo simple
element air, fire, water, earth.
o Objects and actions are vaguely described. Pulling
is different from pushing, marble is cold, wool is
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warm, lead is heavy, world earth, universe are often
confused in usage, a layman who utters the word .
earth. is hardly aware of its being the third planet
from the sun, or that the sun itself is just another star
in the milky way.
o It assumes that .facts., hypothesis made it happen,
are out there waiting to be known.
Common knowledge is often a combination of reality and
personal dreams hence it is subjective. Man is evil by nature and
women are inferior to men. All these examples show how facts are
distributed by personal influences or biases (social biases). One who
claims that man is evil by nature may reach such a judgment out of
his personal experience, and irrespective of the relations of the other
people toward each other, to judge that women are inferior to men is
to contradict reality in many respects since many women have
proven their superiority over men.
- Scientific Knowledge Scientific knowledge, in contrast,
substitutes quantities to qualities. It is based on measurements.
Instead of sounds, colors, science studies vibrations with definite
wave, length and frequencies. The basis elements are .simpler. then
the traditional four. The latter appeared simple due to lack of
analysis, which would rove them complex. The notion of fore is at
the root of both pulling and pushing. Objective conductivity replaces
subjective sensations and weight is a relation.
Facts are constructed through a rational process heat is felt,
temperature is the result of a measurements implying the use of an
instrument, and as such is different from heat, air pressure is not a
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given fact, it is the result of long process of analysis and
verification. That is why it was said, somewhat excessively, .facts
are made.. The word revealed by scientific investigation enlarges
tremendously the limits of what we can know, and surpasses the
restricted limits of sense perception. Hence science refers not to any
knowledge but to a special sort there of it is systematic, objective,
and formulated knowledge.
o Systematic it is not haphazard or unintentional, but
rather follows an intentional and rational plan.
o Objective it is independent of individual or ethnic
opinion, and subject to verification by any
competent person.
o Formulated it is based on measurements whose
relations are often formulated in mathematical
equations.
In science every natural phenomena is explained in terms of a
theory or a general law which is universally applicable, it follows
that science constructs an organized body of knowledge where each
element is connected with the other elements and functions
according to definite rules and principles. This scientific attitude,
however, is not spontaneous in humans it is result of a long process
of evolution. What are the main stages of this evolution?
The Difference Between Common Knowledge and Scientific
Knowledge In fact, science has qualities that put it at the antipodes
(opposite) with common knowledge. There is a sharp distinction
between what is science and what is common knowledge. That
distinction results from the differences between the foundations,
methods, structures and orientation of each one of them.
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First of all, it must be said that knowledge in all of its forms is
an outcome of man.s cognitive powers. Thus scientific and common
knowledge share the quality of being aspects of man.s knowledge.
However, Copernicus and Galileo did not revolt against common
knowledge but rather against the ideas of Ptolemy (geocentricism)
and Aristotle who was the most admirable authorities of science in
their ages. The theory of relativity did not evolve out of common
knowledge but rather from already establishes scientific theories and
laws. Thus opposition and negation are two movements experienced
within science itself.
Auguste Comte.s Principle of The Three Stages Theological,
Metaphysical, And Positive
- The Theological Stage Natural phenomena were
explained as the result of supernatural causes
whereas inert matter was believed to be animated
within spirits. Every phenomenon had a God, and
functioned according to his will. Gods were the
causes of things, rain, and war, and even love was
determined by their will.
- The Metaphysical Stage Man believed in one
omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient god. Instead
of many gods having different powers. To Aristotle
things move according to their natural properties. It
is intrinsic in the nature of earth to move
downwards and fire to move upwards.
- The Positive Stage Came last and it still continues.
Now the scientific mind does not seek the ultimate
causes of things, it is rather satisfied in a
description of how facts occur and in finding
relationships, i.e. laws among them.
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Although the scientific spirit or attitude is based on a natural
curiosity yet it acquired the following properties along its
course of historical evolution
onFree The scientific mind is free of all authority
except that of reason. A scientist does not submit to
the authority of religion, politics, or traditions.
onPositive Its explanations of the universe are of the
kind, which characterizes the positive stage, the
scientific spirit views the different occurrences of
nature simply, as they are, without ascribing them
to supernatural powers that can never be detected.
onCritical The scientific attitude towards truth is
doubtful. Doubt is not used here for the destruction
of truth, as the sophists used it, its aim is certainty
itself. In other words, doubt motivates the scientist
to seek a more reliable foundation for scientific
finding.
onBelief in Determinism The scientific mind believes
in the existence of necessary relation ships among
natural phenomena. It thinks of the world as an
organized structure, a perfect system that has its
rules and laws and thus it excludes all reference to
chance in its explanation of natural phenomena.
The scientist assumes an underlying order in
nature, a system of events processes and
phenomena that are predictable because they occur
repeatedly with some sort of regularity. The quest
is to peer beneath the surface of differences and
regularity. The quest is to peer beneath the surface
of differences and particulars to the foundation of
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similarities and generalities. In fact, science could
attain its great successes only when scientist started
departing from old dogma about nature.s free activity
or divine wills in determining the course of natural
events.
onDisinterestedness The attitude of the scientist
towards truth is impartial. He seeks truth for its
own sake regardless of all personal benefit or
interest, and irrespective of all preconceived ideas.
His aim is pure truth.
The Relationship between Science and Technology Scientific
activity is, in principle, distinct from technological activity. Science
is concerned with the discovery of objective relations between
objects given in reality. Technology may be understood, in the
broadest sense, as the set of clearly defined procedures aimed at
producing results that humans deem useful for one reason or
another. In its pursuit of objectivity, science strives to eliminate any
subjective preference. Technology, on the other hand, is at the
service of those needs and desires of ours that science struggles to
ignore. Thus technology is an effort to produce what we wish to be
and is not, while science is an effort to simply know what is.
Science is a perfectible image of the world, while technology is a
way of operating on reality. Technology is an applied knowledge.
Once the established facts and laws are known, men try to make the
most f them in satisfying their needs and desires.
Positive Technology Precedes Positive Science It is an observable
fact that efficient technology existed will before the formal
constitution of any positive science. Technology seems to
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presuppose science. Logically, it seems to be an application of an
already existing knowledge and the attainment of a certain level of
efficiency corresponding to the level of rationality of that
knowledge. However, the history of science and technology shows
that things in reality take a very different course in happening. The
primitive people have no knowledge worth being called science.
Their theories of nature, or worldview, remain deplorably caught in
superstitious and anthropomorphic illusions. Yet, they have very
clear techniques the canoes they make, for instance, are perfectly
adapted to their purposes.
If efficient technology preceded positive science, that is
because the oldest techniques and instruments are mere extensions
of man.s limbs. . Knowing how. preceded knowing. On the other
had, the urgency of immediate action required the application of
certain empirical procedures that were discovered by chance well
before to understand the scientific grounds of their efficiency. That
is why Voltaire said. if theory had to precede practice, centuries
would have elapsed before we could displace one single rock..
Science is Constituted as an Answer to Technical Demands
Historically, practice preceded theory, and technology preceded
science. We usually find at the origin of all sciences some practical
preoccupations. The first mathematicians were the ancient Egyptian
land surveyors. These .geo-metericians., literally, these earth-
measures had to redistribute the lands after each flooding of the Nile
River.
Discontinuity Between Technology and Science Science is an
entirely different thing from a mere extension of spontaneous pre
scientific technology to improve on them. The failures of old
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technology stimulate scientific research and eventually lead to new
discoveries. The technician faces obstacles standing in the way of
his practical activity. The scientist studies the mechanism of these
hurdles. For instance, the fountain markers of the 17th century
Florence failed to pump the water in the pipes from a depth
exceeding 10.m. The scientist, Torricelli in this case, studies these
practical difficulties and formulates them as a theoretical problem.
He did not ask himself how to pump the water in pipes, but rather
why the water could not be pumped from the depth. The technician
wants to act whereas the scientist seeks to understand. Science is not
only the servant of technology, it responds to a purely intellectual
curiosity.
Disinterested Science Improves Existing Technology When
Hertz discovered the electromagnetic frequency he could not
anticipate the various practical consequences of his discovery, in
radio and TV broadcasting and other appliances. In fact the spirit
that used the scientific method in establishing new theories is more
capable of dealing with practical problems. Bachelard, a French
contemporary philosopher, gives a simple and interesting example
in this respect humans used, until the 0th century, to burn some
substances in order to produce light. In the 0th century, a real
revolution took place with the invention of electric bulb. This
.lamp. will only produce light if, and as long as, we prevent the
light producing substance from burning. Paradoxically, when it
stops producing light we say, .it is burnt up!.
What are the Properties of a Scientist? A scientist is a person who
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is motivated y natural curiosity to seek truth, he is gifted a high level
of intelligence, creativity and intuition, he has gained the scientific
spirit, his experience and knowledge in his field of research are
extensive and deep, and the historical epoch provides him with the
necessary prerequisites for discovery.
Is it sufficient in order to define the scientific knowledge to oppose
it to common knowledge?
What are the characteristics of scientific knowledge?
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Biology
The Experimental Method in Biology Scientists to formulate
general laws use the experimental method. It consists of three main
stages 1) observation of facts. ) Hypothesis formation, ) the
verification of the hypothesis by controlled observation and
experiments.
French physiologist Clause Bernard is regarded as the founder
of experimental medicine. His insistence that an experiment should
be designed either to prove or disprove a guiding hypothesis is an
integral part of the modern scientific method. Y experimenting on
animals, he discovered the role of the liver in the transformation,
storage and use of sugar in the body. In the early 1th century
contemporaries of Claude Bernard used to think that the sugar in
animals. blood came exclusively from their food and that it is
destroyed through respiration. Claude Bernard, however, found that
the blood of all animals contains some sugar even when they don.t
eat sweet substances. It was well known, in his time, that plants
transform glucose into soluble starch (as in potatoes). Claude
Bernard thought that sugar obeys, in animals, a mechanism similar
to that, which is known in plants. So he presumed the existence of a
particular organ whose job is to perform this function, he then found
out it was the liver. Thus Claude Bernard demonstrated that the
process of experimenting is applicable in biology in much the same
manner as it is in the physician chemical sciences. He emphasized
the fundamental role of the hypothesis in directing the experimental
techniques destined to verify it. Experimentation is an observation
provoked by the scientist under certain definite conditions that he
has determined in order to verify the hypothesis.
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Can Biology apply the Experimental Method successfully?
„FnDifficulties of the Experimental Method in biology
- Unlike inert matter, living matter is in a state of constant
transformation. Ex Human beings die, but death does
not mean their transformation into inert matter, since
other forms of life emerge from the decomposition of
their bodies.
- Living tings are extremely complex in structure. Ex the
simplest living structure is much more complex than the
most complex compound composed of inert matter.
- The living structure is peculiar in its composition. Ex no
two living entities are completely alike.
- Unity if the living body. The living body functions as a
unified organism. To understand any compound it should
be analyzed and then reconstructed once more. To
analyze a living body would destroy the property of life.
Thus it would be impossible for scientist to reconstruct it
once more.
For the above four reasons, it is evident that biology faces
more difficulties in its application of the experimental method
than physics or chemistry. The most important of these
difficulties are manifested at three main levels observation,
experimentation and laws.
„FnObservation The object of biology i.e. life is complex and
changing
- Complexity; The living body is composed of a great
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Number of interacting elements; hence observation is
difficult to apply in the field of biology due to the
complexity of the living organism.
- Change; The living body is constantly changing; it
cannot be the same at two different times.
- Experimentation; It is a means used by the scientist to
verify the hypothesis. Like observation, is application
faces many difficulties in the field of biology
+ Moral Difficulty One can easily
experiment on inert matter. Yet when
experimentation is to be carried out on human
bodies it is faced with a moral difficulty.
Certain religious sects refuse experimentation
even on dead bodies. Also there are voices,
which protest against the use of animals for
experimental purposes, particularly when that
hurts the animal or tortures it.
- Conclusion The complexity, change, and unity of living
beings render the methods used in physics and chemistry
insufficient for the study of life. But biology is one of the
experimental sciences, what methods does it use to attain
this aim?
„FnPossibilities of the experimental method in Biology
- Observation Although it is difficult to observe in
biology, yet it is possible (through observing surgical
cases car accident, injured people, war casualties). Thus
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Through the advance of technology it is possible to explore
certain phenomena, which were unattainable by the mere
sense organs. Microscopes (instruments) radiography
(processes), and many other instruments help the biologist
to observe the finniest particles in the body, the interior
organs without dissection (vivisection) and many other
things. Observation is becoming more and more accurate
and quantitative through the application of certain means of
measurements. Thus the biologist can measure the
temperature of the living body, the pressure of the blood,
the number of blood cells, the rate of sugar.
- Experimentation Biologists have always a possibility to
study the structure and physiology of a human body by
applying modern techniques, and trying the effect of
certain drugs during sickness. With respect to animals
the moral difficulty is reduced to a minimum and
scientists are making their experiments freely.
- Conclusion Biology can be considered an experimental
science in spite of all the difficulties, which face
observations and experimentation on living things. In
fact most of difficulties, which are of moral or religious
nature, are concerned with the study of human body.
Plants and animals can be experimented upon without
being faced with real difficulties.
Could we speak of biological sciences?
What is the role of experimentation in biology?
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Human Sciences
The Experimental Method in Human Sciences Can human
sciences be considered real sciences? Can man be the object of
science? Can his behavior be subjected to the rules of determinism?
Can psychology, or sociology be considered as a real science? Can
they formulate laws? Can the psychologist or sociologist verify their
hypothesis experimentally?
The experimental method involves three main actions, which
are observation, experimentation, and formation of laws. Its
application in the field of human sciences is faced with many
difficulties, and at the same time it has certain possibilities.
„FnDifficulties Science seeks a reduction of complexity into
simple structures by reducing individual differences to a
minimum, till the establishment of one principle, a law
according to which all actions are explained.
- Observation The object of human sciences is too
complex. The psychologist deals with phenomena, which
result from the interaction between social, mental and
physical elements. The sociologist deals with phenomena
where material, economical and individual elements
interact together. The psychologist deals with man whose
stream of consciousness is constantly changing, which
led William James and Bergson to say that . Mobility
and change are two major qualities of the stream of
consciousness. The sociologist equally deals with
constantly changing phenomena. Tradition and customs
undergo a process of constant evolution. The different
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Practices of marriage, birth, were experienced by one
generation before, reveal rate of change undergone by
society. Therefore the object of human sciences is in a state
of constant change.
The psychologist may observe either himself or
others. If he observes himself then he has to judge
himself by himself, and subjectivity is inevitable in this
case. The sociologist is always at risk of being
subjective. The preconceived ideas which form in one.s
mind under the effect of internalizing the ideals and
values of the group to which he belongs, would always
have their effects n his understanding and explanation of
sociological phenomena. Therefore, scientific
observation is objective.
The psychologist cannot measure fear or happiness
the way a physicist measures temperature. The
sociologist cannot measure precisely the rate of social
change or determine quantitatively the direction of the
public opinion. Therefore, human sciences observe
phenomena, which are qualitative in nature.
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