Concept groupings: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:06, 17 December 2025

The concepts of the SSS curriculum can be broadly grouped into six main categories.

Philosophical Underpinnings

What makes science an effective way of learning about the world?

We begin the course by exploring how the ideals and practices of science allow us to approach increasingly accurate and complete representations of our shared material reality. The scientific community does this through empirical investigation of the world, sharing observations and ideas with each other, and continued openness to revision as new evidence emerges. Science offers particularly powerful tools for investigating causal relationships, helping us decide on courses of action that accomplish our goals.

Relevant Lessons

1.1 Introduction and When Is Science Relevant

1.2 Shared Reality and Modeling

2.1 Senses and Instrumentation

3.1 Probabilistic Reasoning

6.1 Correlation and Causation

Probabilistic Thinking

How can we make informed decisions using noisy and uncertain data?

There are many sources of uncertainty, both in the accuracy and precision of data and in the inferences drawn from data. Scientists have developed strategies for tracking, reducing, and coping with this uncertainty, enabling us to make clearer judgments and more effective decisions even when we cannot know for sure what the outcomes will be.

Relevant Lessons

2.2 Systematic and Statistical Uncertainty

3.1 Probabilistic Reasoning

3.2 Calibration of Credence Levels

4.1 Signal and Noise

4.2 Finding Patterns in Random Noise

5.1 False Positives and Negatives

Causal Reasoning

What causes what, and how can we find out?

To make a decision, one has to know its consequences. Much of science is dedicated to finding out about "what causes what." How does science do this through direct experimentation or indirect inference? What are the different types of causation and their implications on policymaking and criminal justice?

Relevant Lessons

6.1 Correlation and Causation

6.2 Hill's Criteria

7.1 Causation, Blame, and Policy

7.2 Emergent Phenomena

Science's Can-do Aspect

How can we gain insights despite immense unknowns and conceptual and practical obstacles?

Science is balanced by, on the one hand, awareness that we might at any point be mistaken, and on the other hand, optimism that if we continue iteratively investigating, we will eventually gain understanding. This can-do spirit is bolstered by strategies that help us use what we know to handle what we don't know.

Relevant Lessons

5.2 Scientific Optimism

8.1 Orders of Understanding

8.2 Fermi Problems

12.2 Grill the Guest

Human Cognition

What are cognitive traps that cause people to fool themselves?

Humans are prone to errors that arise from overapplied heuristics, cognitive biases, and limited processing power. Being mindful of these vulnerabilities can help us to moderate our own judgments, using cognitive and social strategies to reduce mistakes and biases.

Relevant Lessons

7.1 Causation, Blame, and Policy

9.1 Heuristics

9.2 Biases

10.1 Confirmation Bias

10.2 Blinding

11.1 Pathological Science

Group Decision Making

How can groups make better decisions together?

Group decision-making can be challenging when people disagree. However, distinguishing between facts and values, accounting for values from a variety of stakeholders, and incorporating expert judgments of fact can produce decisions based on more accurate and complete information, greater community buy-in, and more widely desirable outcomes.

Relevant Lessons

1.1 Introduction and When Is Science Relevant

11.2 When Is Science Suspect

12.1 Wisdom of Crowds and Herd Thinking

13.1 Denver Bullet Study

13.2 Deliberative Polling

14.1 Scenario Planning

14.2 Wrap Up

⟨

⟩

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-The concepts of the course can be broadly grouped into six main categories.
+The concepts of the SSS curriculum can be broadly grouped into six main categories.
-{{Work in progress}}
 == Philosophical Underpinnings ==
-[[File:Placeholder Cover - Philosophical Underpinnings.png|frame|center]]
+[[File:Watercolor Cover - Philosophical Underpinnings.jpg|thumb]]
-Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magnam aliquam quaerat voluptatem. Ut enim virtutes, de quibus et ab antiquis, ad arbitrium suum scribere? Quodsi Graeci leguntur a Graecis isdem de rebus.
+''What makes science an effective way of learning about the world?''
+: We begin the course by exploring how the ideals and practices of science allow us to approach increasingly accurate and complete representations of our shared material reality. The scientific community does this through empirical investigation of the world, sharing observations and ideas with each other, and continued openness to revision as new evidence emerges. Science offers particularly powerful tools for investigating causal relationships, helping us decide on courses of action that accomplish our goals.
 '''Relevant Lessons'''
-* [[1.1 Introduction and When Is Science Relevant]]
+{{ConceptListItem|1.1 Introduction and When Is Science Relevant}}
-* [[1.2 Shared Reality and Modeling]]
+{{ConceptListItem|1.2 Shared Reality and Modeling}}
-* [[2.1 Senses and Instrumentation]]
+{{ConceptListItem|2.1 Senses and Instrumentation}}
-* [[6.1 Correlation and Causation]]
+{{ConceptListItem|3.1 Probabilistic Reasoning}}
-* [[6.2 Hill's Criteria]]
+{{ConceptListItem|6.1 Correlation and Causation}}
-* [[7.1 Causation, Blame, and Policy]]
-* [[7.2 Emergent Phenomena]]
 == Probabilistic Thinking ==
-[[File:Placeholder Cover - Probabilistic Thinking.png|frame|center]]
+[[File:Watercolor Cover - Probabilistic Thinking.jpg|thumb]]
+''How can we make informed decisions using noisy and uncertain data?''
-Omnium philosophorum sententia tale debet esse, ut ad Orestem pervenias profectus a Theseo. At vero Epicurus una in domo, et ea quidem angusta, quam magnos quantaque amoris conspiratione consentientis tenuit amicorum greges! Quod fit etiam nunc ab Epicureis. Sed ad haec, nisi molestum est, habeo quae velim. An me, inquam, nisi te.
+: There are many sources of uncertainty, both in the accuracy and precision of data and in the inferences drawn from data. Scientists have developed strategies for tracking, reducing, and coping with this uncertainty, enabling us to make clearer judgments and more effective decisions even when we cannot know for sure what the outcomes will be.
 '''Relevant Lessons'''
-* [[3.1 Probabilistic Reasoning]]
+{{ConceptListItem|2.2 Systematic and Statistical Uncertainty}}
-* [[3.2 Calibration of Credence Levels]]
+{{ConceptListItem|3.1 Probabilistic Reasoning}}
-* [[4.1 Signal and Noise]]
+{{ConceptListItem|3.2 Calibration of Credence Levels}}
-* [[4.2 Finding Patterns in Random Noise]]
+{{ConceptListItem|4.1 Signal and Noise}}
-* [[5.1 False Positives and Negatives]]
+{{ConceptListItem|4.2 Finding Patterns in Random Noise}}
+{{ConceptListItem|5.1 False Positives and Negatives}}
+== Causal Reasoning ==
-== Science's Can-do Aspect ==
+[[File:Watercolor Cover - Causal Reasoning.jpg|thumb]]
-[[File:Placeholder Cover - Can-do Aspect.png|frame|center]]
+''What causes what, and how can we find out?''
-Sola, quae nos exhorrescere metu non sinat. Qua praeceptrice in tranquillitate vivi potest omnium cupiditatum ardore restincto. Cupiditates enim sunt insatiabiles, quae non modo singulos homines, sed universas familias evertunt, totam etiam labefactant saepe rem publicam. Ex cupiditatibus odia, discidia, discordiae, seditiones, bella nascuntur, nec eae se foris solum iactant nec tantum in alios caeco impetu incurrunt, sed intus etiam in animis inclusae inter.
+: To make a decision, one has to know its consequences. Much of science is dedicated to finding out about "what causes what." How does science do this through direct experimentation or indirect inference? What are the different types of causation and their implications on policymaking and criminal justice?
 '''Relevant Lessons'''
-* [[5.2 Scientific Optimism]]
+{{ConceptListItem|6.1 Correlation and Causation}}
-* [[8.1 Orders of Understanding]]
+{{ConceptListItem|6.2 Hill's Criteria}}
-* [[8.2 Fermi Problems]]
+{{ConceptListItem|7.1 Causation, Blame, and Policy}}
-* [[12.2 Grill the Guest]]
+{{ConceptListItem|7.2 Emergent Phenomena}}
-== Human Cognition ==
+== Science's Can-do Aspect ==
+[[File:Watercolor Cover - Can-do Aspect.jpg|thumb]]
-[[File:Placeholder Cover - Human Cognition.png|frame|center]]
+''How can we gain insights despite immense unknowns and conceptual and practical obstacles?''
-Ista sis aequitate, quam ostendis. Sed uti oratione perpetua malo quam interrogare aut interrogari. Ut placet, inquam. Tum dicere exorsus est. Primum igitur, inquit, sic agam, ut ipsi auctori huius.
+: Science is balanced by, on the one hand, awareness that we might at any point be mistaken, and on the other hand, optimism that if we continue iteratively investigating, we will eventually gain understanding. This can-do spirit is bolstered by strategies that help us use what we know to handle what we don't know.
 '''Relevant Lessons'''
-* [[7.1 Causation, Blame, and Policy]]
+{{ConceptListItem|5.2 Scientific Optimism}}
-* [[9.1 Heuristics]]
+{{ConceptListItem|8.1 Orders of Understanding}}
-* [[9.2 Biases]]
+{{ConceptListItem|8.2 Fermi Problems}}
-* [[10.1 Confirmation Bias]]
+{{ConceptListItem|12.2 Grill the Guest}}
-* [[10.2 Blinding]]
+== Human Cognition ==
-== Group Decision Making ==
+[[File:Watercolor Cover - Human Cognition.jpg|thumb]]
-[[File:Placeholder Cover - Group Decision Making.png|frame|center]]
+''What are cognitive traps that cause people to fool themselves?''
-Et solida corpora ferri deorsum suo pondere ad lineam, hunc naturalem esse omnium corporum motum. Deinde ibidem homo acutus, cum illud ocurreret, si omnia deorsus e regione ferrentur et, ut dixi, ad lineam, hunc naturalem esse omnium corporum.
+: Humans are prone to errors that arise from overapplied heuristics, cognitive biases, and limited processing power. Being mindful of these vulnerabilities can help us to moderate our own judgments, using cognitive and social strategies to reduce mistakes and biases.
 '''Relevant Lessons'''
-* [[1.1 Introduction and When Is Science Relevant]]
+{{ConceptListItem|7.1 Causation, Blame, and Policy}}
-* [[12.1 Wisdom of Crowds and Herd Thinking]]
+{{ConceptListItem|9.1 Heuristics}}
-* [[13.1 Denver Bullet Study]]
+{{ConceptListItem|9.2 Biases}}
-* [[13.2 Deliberative Polling]]
+{{ConceptListItem|10.1 Confirmation Bias}}
+{{ConceptListItem|10.2 Blinding}}
+{{ConceptListItem|11.1 Pathological Science}}
-== When Science is Suspect ==
+== Group Decision Making ==
-[[File:Placeholder Cover - When Science is Suspect.png|frame|center]]
+[[File:Watercolor Cover - Group Decision Making.jpg|thumb]]
-Ego a philosopho, si afferat eloquentiam, non asperner, si non habeat, non admodum flagitem. Re mihi non aeque satisfacit, et quidem locis pluribus. Sed quot homines, tot sententiae; falli igitur possumus. Quam ob rem dissentientium inter se reprehensiones non sunt vituperandae, maledicta, contumeliae, tum iracundiae, contentiones concertationesque in disputando pertinaces indignae philosophia mihi videri solent. Tum Torquatus: Prorsus, inquit, assentior; neque enim disputari sine reprehensione nec cum istis tantopere.
+''How can groups make better decisions together?''
+: Group decision-making can be challenging when people disagree. However, distinguishing between facts and values, accounting for values from a variety of stakeholders, and incorporating expert judgments of fact can produce decisions based on more accurate and complete information, greater community buy-in, and more widely desirable outcomes.
 '''Relevant Lessons'''
-* [[1.1 Introduction and When Is Science Relevant]]
+{{ConceptListItem|1.1 Introduction and When Is Science Relevant}}
-* [[10.1 Confirmation Bias]]
+{{ConceptListItem|11.2 When Is Science Suspect}}
-* [[10.2 Blinding]]
+{{ConceptListItem|12.1 Wisdom of Crowds and Herd Thinking}}
-* [[11.1 Pathological Science]]
+{{ConceptListItem|13.1 Denver Bullet Study}}
-* [[11.2 When Is Science Suspect]]
+{{ConceptListItem|13.2 Deliberative Polling}}
+{{ConceptListItem|14.1 Scenario Planning}}
+{{ConceptListItem|14.2 Wrap Up}}
-== All Topics ==
-{{14 week course}}
 {{NavCard|prev=Course introduction|next=Parts of the course}}
 [[Category:Introduction]]
-<!-- {{Expand|Topics by Week|
-{{14 week course}}
-}} -->