1.2 Shared Reality and Modeling

Learning Goals

[Link to PlayPosit]

[Link to instructional video]

More details

After this lesson, students should

1. Understand that the self-correcting and ever-changing nature of science is a strength, not a weakness.
2. Feel optimistic about the capacity of science to help solve problems for societal and personal decision-making.
3. Understand the assumption of shared reality with regular patterns and the power of empirical evidence as a way to study this shared reality.
4. Appreciate that scientific knowledge is built more like a raft than a pyramid.

Definitions

• Approaches to truth
  • Realism

  • Conventionalism

  • Operationalism

• Raft vs. Pyramid
  • The Raft

    Every scientific claim is subject to question and reevaluation; we can use the rest of our scientific knowledge to question any one claim at a time, though we cannot question the entire edifice at once.

  • The Pyramid

    Science builds on fixed foundations to ever higher levels of knowledge.

Common Misconceptions

• Science always changes its mind. One day drinking wine is good for you, the next day it isn't anymore. Why should we trust anything scientists say?

  When scientists make any claim, they make it always with some level of uncertainty, leaving open the possibility that they may be wrong. Any claim is subject to scrutiny and may be overturned or amended by new evidence. The ever changing and improving nature of scientific knowledge is a strength, not a weakness.

Context

In this lesson, we lay the philosophical groundwork for future topics by establishing a common set of assumptions and attitudes in science, namely, that the world is full of regular patterns that can be studied empirically, and that scientific knowledge is constantly evolving in light of new evidence.

Before

1.1 Introduction

Decision making relies on knowing the effects of each decision in the real world. Collective decision making thus relies on a collective understanding of the shared reality through the scientific method.

After

2.2 Causation and Correlation

One important aspect of the shared reality is cause and effect, which is studied in a series of future lessons on causation.

3.1 Systematic and Statistical Uncertainty

Our understanding of the shared reality is never perfect, but is always improving. When it comes to measured quantities, it is possible and necessary to quantify the inaccuracy or imprecision in our description of the shared reality.

5.1 Scientific Optimism

Although the first step of a scientific attitude is to admit one's ignorance or the uncertainty in one's knowledge, it is still possible to make progress by successive iterative improvements.

13.2 Deliberative Polling

A type of event that helps the public make better group decisions after being informed on the relevant (shared) facts about an issue.

Recommended Outline

Before Class

• Prepare a seating chart.
• Review PlayPosit and discussion questions and ask faculty, Gabriel, or Emlen any questions you have.
• (Optional) Prepare a presentation.

During Class

• (5 min) Come up with some fun way to assign the roles of spokesperson and notetaker (e.g. earliest birthday in the year, lives furthest from campus). Remind them of the responsibilities of these roles.
• (66 min) For each of the discussion questions, spend 7 min to discuss in small groups, and then 4 min to discuss as a whole class, with short GSI commentary. Adjust the duration of each question as necessary.
• (5 min) Collect questions for plenary.
• (9 min) Ask clicker question, answer student questions, and review definitions.
• Remind students to prepare for 2.1 Senses and Instrumentation, specifically, to download a spectrogram app and, if the class is remote, order diffraction grating if they haven’t already done so.

Lesson Content

Clicker Question

1. Question
   1. First option
   2. Second option
   3. Third option
   4. Fourth option

Activity 1: Name

[Brief description of and motivation for the activity]

Discussion Questions

1. Question 1
   1. Subquestion a

   2. Subquestion b

Collect Questions for Plenary

(5 min) Collect remaining questions from the students for faculty in plenary (can be questions for clarification, extension, discussion, etc.), and add [ here].