Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Insanity
As I was having a conversation tonight, I began ruminating upon that oft-repeated adage, "The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting it to come out different" (see wikiquote).
In fact, I thought, this is a frequent occurance, since it is a reasonable definition of the scientific method, which is probably why I hated grad school so. I suppose that means I'm not insane for enrolling in a graduate class today...hey, it's religion, it can't be that scientific. Except I think I said the same thing about IR two years ago...
Don't worry. This post wasn't supposed to make sense.
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In fact, I thought, this is a frequent occurance, since it is a reasonable definition of the scientific method, which is probably why I hated grad school so. I suppose that means I'm not insane for enrolling in a graduate class today...hey, it's religion, it can't be that scientific. Except I think I said the same thing about IR two years ago...
Don't worry. This post wasn't supposed to make sense.
# posted by 99 Blogger @ 10:04 PM 
Comments:
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good for you for taking more schooling. you can never get enough. now, when you have time to read, here's an assignment for you. Hope's Boy by Andrew Bridge. it should be required reading for people who deal with foster kids. by a copy for your mom. really.
and, yeah, for the record, you said you graduated from kindergarten in 1989? i started my first legal secretary job (that's what we used to be called) in January of 1989.
and, um, yeah . . . that's why i am going to school, too. when i grow up, i want to be a writer or someone who teaches writing.
please write us more about the idgets.
and, yeah, for the record, you said you graduated from kindergarten in 1989? i started my first legal secretary job (that's what we used to be called) in January of 1989.
and, um, yeah . . . that's why i am going to school, too. when i grow up, i want to be a writer or someone who teaches writing.
please write us more about the idgets.
# posted by 
: 7:39 PM, February 23, 2008
: 7:39 PM, February 23, 2008
I don't think the quoted adage is a reasonable assessment of scientific method. Scientific method has a hypothesis wherein you state exactly what results you expect under such and such conditions. You have to leave the door open for different outcomes but there are clear expectations. Furthermore, it would be the antithesis of scientific method should you inform students that they repeatedly do the same experiment and generate different results (at least pre-Heisenberg). Perhaps the better analogy is the mathematical proof of reductio ad absurdium where you state the hypothesis and hope that the proof will contradict itself somewhere--just ask Lobechevsky and his gang about the insanity this can lead to! My, my, this has generated all kinds of thoughts for me! That all said, if insanity got you into the graduate school--I'm all for it!
@marjorie
You're correct that the scientific method does not expect the results to be different; the method, actually expects them to be the same. I suppose a better description of the scientific method would be "doing the same thing over and over again and getting different results."
I suppose what I really opposed was the application of the scientific method to social behavior on a large scale (ie the state). I don't oppose psychology, for the human being has not changed in its physical makeup since creation, but the organization of social and political groups have changed significantly, and I don't think we're quite ready to develop and apply a predictive grand theory of global inter-state interaction, which was really all we worked on during my 2 years of grad school.
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You're correct that the scientific method does not expect the results to be different; the method, actually expects them to be the same. I suppose a better description of the scientific method would be "doing the same thing over and over again and getting different results."
I suppose what I really opposed was the application of the scientific method to social behavior on a large scale (ie the state). I don't oppose psychology, for the human being has not changed in its physical makeup since creation, but the organization of social and political groups have changed significantly, and I don't think we're quite ready to develop and apply a predictive grand theory of global inter-state interaction, which was really all we worked on during my 2 years of grad school.
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