Saturday, November 29, 2014
End-of-Course Reflections
Please comment on at least several if not all of these questions -- use separate posts if you like.
What have you learned in this course that surprised you?
Would you take another course in philosophy if money/time weren't major barriers?
Do you have an understanding of the philosophical dimensions of the study and critique of science?
Have you developed an appreciation for the relevance of metaphysical, epistemological, and ethical questions in our daily lives?
Have you improved in your skills of analysis and critique, as well as in written and oral communication due to this course?
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By taking a course in the philosophy of science, my eyes have been opened to a new way of seeing the world. I benefited a lot from the class because it helped link my two majors (biology and philosophy), allowing me to see the connections between what once appeared to be mutually exclusive disciplines. Before this semester, I took many things for granted about science. Science for me was essentially boiled down to the scientific method, which acted as a framework for all scientific experiments and maintained objectivity. I never really thought about the subjective nature of science though. Now that I'm more cognizant of these "fingerprints" that have been left by scientists, it'd be kind of interesting to learn of the different cultural and personal influences that affected notable scientists in the past. Everyone has baggage, even so-called scientific giants (Newton, Einstein, Galileo, etc.) which in a way humanizes them. I feel more connected now than I ever have with the scientific community (both past and present).
ReplyDeleteI also thought that science "was boiled down to the scientific method," but this class made me change my stance on that. I think it is amazing that in this class, we can make so many connections to other things. You can make a connection between your two majors of Biology and Philosophy. And, we can also make connections to music (via the concert) and other current events.
DeleteA lot of ideas have surprised me by taking this class. The speakers from the various TED keynotes, the Nova / Fabric of the Cosmos series on PBS, and the books that we covered in class have all opened my mind more in one way or another (not to mention being exposed to ideas that have exceeded my comprehension... yeah, Brian Greene). If I had to pick something that has surprised me the MOST, I would pick the set of ideas presented by Brian Greene. Quantum mechanics, manipulation and interpretation of time (if time is actually a thing), empty space, loaves of bread, and an alien on a bike... just thinking about all of those things, like I said, makes me feel like my comprehension is exceeded. It is very interesting to think that Greene can create very complex theories, even if not all of them can be proved. He could be making everything up, his reasoning making everything look actually possible. Consider time travel. I wish I could explain time travel to the extent and clarity that he does, but I cannot. Also, remember that broken wine glass restored to one piece by reversing velocities? Your comprehension would be exceeded, too. What amazes me the most is how Greene explains these things like it is so easy and elementary, especially to people who have no idea in the subject matter. I am a computer science major, and even I have difficulty sometimes trying to explain computer-related concepts to people who aren't well-versed in computing. I actually understood most of Greene's concepts by his clear explanations, and I am very impressed by that. How humans have come from no language to the complexity of explaining something that is WAY out there impresses me the most, though.
ReplyDeleteI WOULD consider taking another course in Philosophy if there were no barriers such as time and / or money. I like this class, but it frustrates me at the same time. I like this class, because discussing and thinking about things that require a lot of thought and imagination cause a perpetual wonder and curiosity in my mind. Unlike other things which lose appeal over time, wonder never loses its appeal in my opinion. I'll illustrate my views on excitement and boredom in terms of science here. I feel like when I find the answer to something, I lose interest in that something because I found the answer. I feel like there is nothing more past the answer. For example, multiplication gave me wonders when I was learning about it. It was exciting. But, once I got the hang of it and started making less mistakes, there really wasn't wonder anymore. In other words, with wonder comes excitement. Whereas when we do not find the answer to something, wonder along with its excitement prevail. What frustrates me about this class is that we have to juggle other aspects of academic life while trying to comprehend the ideas that we learn in class. I feel like I need to allocate more time, which I simply do not currently have, to think about these things. A busy academic life will not stop my wonder from being any less. This is me on a typical day. "I need to code a binary tree with each node in the tree having two pointers to other nodes which can hold data of any type... Wait, my clothes are in the dryer. I forgot to call my friend back. Oh god, he posted that assignment on MyTMC already. GAH, what is the meaning of life?!"
ReplyDeleteAll in all, I would love to take another philosophy class. I just wish that it was the only class I took so I could understand it more.
To answer question one, I must admit there were many things about this course that surprised me. But the most surprising was how much values, opinions, and subjectivity were intertwined with science. I always thought science was "hard facts", with no room for interpretation. This course had definitely opened my eyes to the idea that many of our laws of nature aren't even 100% correct or true. This being said really makes you put your faith in scientists and their goals to find a theory that better explains our natural universe.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Madison on how interpretation factors into and affects science. Also, this class has changed how I see science, from a definition standpoint. I thought science was just a "encyclopedic body of knowledge about the universe" (Dawbert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). Not only do I see that science deals with more than just hard facts, but it also represents a continuing process (definition from the Ohio Academy of Science).
DeleteWould I take another philosophy class if money or time weren't a barrier? That is a difficult question to answer. This class has been very eye opening for me as well as very confusing. I have never looked at the world with a philosophical view, for it is just so complicated. I would probably take another class if it weren't for a grade and I wasn't under such a time crunch. I feel if I had more time during this semester I would have enjoyed the class much more and been able to explore more topics outside of the classroom. Coming into the class, I had no idea it would be so thought provoking and make you really question science and the universe. Taking another philosophy class would only open my eyes to so many other questions.
ReplyDeleteI agree completely, with the time we have for each topic it is no where close to enough time for me to completely understand each topic. I would also love the fact if it wasn't for a grade and then I could concentrate on the topics I found most interesting.
DeleteWhat I have learned that has surprised me is how big of a role that philosophy actually plays in science. There is more to science than just doing research and running experiments. You have to be able to apply those results and also interpret them in a way that makes philosophical sense.
ReplyDeleteI would take another philosophy class because, I think for a person to develop their own belief system they have to understand what they stand for and more importantly why they stand for it. And philosophy helps people understand that. Also, I think it is important for people to know how other people think and philosophy does that too.
My critiquing skills and my writing skills have improved. We can all agree on the fact that I'm not afraid to talk in class or express my opinions in class
Would I take another philosophy class if money or time weren't a barrier?
ReplyDeleteI believe I would definitely take another philosophy course if time and money were not a barrier. I enjoyed coming to class and thought there were a lot of in class discussions that were interesting. I think the class challenged me mentally and I think other philosophy classes would have a similar experience.
Yes, I do have an understanding philosophical dimensions of the study and critique of science. It is important to have a solid base to truly understand science and also how to apply science too.
ReplyDeleteWhat have I learned in this course that surprised me?
ReplyDeleteI think what surprised me the most is just how many issues there are in science that I didn't realize were there before. One thing that sticks out to me is the video of the TED talk that mentioned the dinosaurs that previously were labeled as separate species but now we see they only changed forms during maturity. It makes me question what else do we have wrong? It makes me appreciate the subject of philosophy more as well.
Yes I have because it challenged my to find what I truly believe in and what I really stand for. It has made me develop my own core system of beliefs and not just to inherit someone else's.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, I would take another class, however, I don't have too. I would think about getting a minor in philosophy, however I am graduating in the spring and I do not want to delay that. I have developed a very deep respect for the study of philosophy and also science. I have a love hate relationship with liberal arts concept, however, I am glad that I took your two classed Dr. Cate because, they really challenged me to think and made me more well rounded student.
I feel the same way about this course, it has definitely pushed me to think in ways that I would not regularly.
DeleteHave you improved in your skills of analysis and critique, as well as in written and oral communication due to this course?
ReplyDeleteI believe I have improved in the forms of writing and oral communication and my skills of analysis. In order to participate in class you really have to think before you speak to avoid sounding unintelligent and I think I did a good job of that for the most part. The papers that we had to write really helped with my analysis and writing skills. The readings were challenging but manageable for the papers we had to write. I think some readings were a little over my head but this probably helped me more than it hurt me because they challenged me mentally.
I agree that the papers were challenging and the readings allowed me to greatly expand my vocabulary
Delete>I was very surprised to learn that there actually is a deep connection between the study of philosophy and science.
ReplyDelete>Even though I learned a lot from this course and surprisingly enjoyed it I would not want to take another because I don't believe I would be interested if it were in any other subject then science.
>Yes, I now understand the philosophical dimensions of the study and critique of science. With this course I have come to realize that there are a lot of choices to be made to reach the conclusions of all experiments and depending on the scientists conducting these test the results can differ.
There were many aspects of this course that surprised me. One thing that really surprised me was the Cosmos video about time and space. I had never realized how closely connected time and space are! Another thing that I found interesting was the video about dinosaur fossils. It showed that it is still important to study science in the past because our new technologies can change the way that things were viewed in the past. I also found a lot of our discussions about evolution interesting because I had never thought about evolution very much before this class.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't realize before that time and space have a close resemblance. There is even an entity called spacetime (according to Greene)! It is weird to imagine things like time differences between two clocks at significantly different altitudes (airplane example), and the bread loaf representation.
DeleteI would definitely consider taking another philosophy course if time and money weren't an issue. I am currently taking another philosophy course to fill my core requirements. That class is called Ethics & Technology. In that class we discuss the effects that technology has on us and individuals and on our society as a whole. I have found both of these philosophy courses to be very interesting and enjoyable! I think that philosophy is an important addition to our curriculum because it promotes different ways of thinking.
ReplyDeleteSomething that I learned in this course that supprised me is that empty space isnt really empty. I thought that that was very interesting because before this class I never thought about empty space and i also didnt think that empty space isnt really empty. Another thing that i thought was suprising is from of of the ted talks when the guy explains to us that there arnt nearly as many dinosoars as we once thought, and when he points out that there arnt many baby dinosoars because they are all named something.
ReplyDeleteI would take another philosphy course if there was more videos and less reading. My favorite parts of the class was when we watched videos because it was so much easier to understand than it was when we talked in class. The videos we watched were always very interesting.
ReplyDeleteyeah a good portion of the reading was pretty hard for me to understand other than the stuff in the evolution book. the evolution book I found surprisingly interesting to me I wouldn't have guessed that entering the course.
DeleteComing into this course I was nervous because I wasn't a big science guy and always just blew off the subject. After taking this course I now have a better understanding of science and how big of a connection that philosophy actually has to science. Another thing that was interesting to me that I learned throughout the course was the connection between time and space. After watching that episode of the Cosmos my mind was just blown away. After taking this course I wouldn't mind taking another philosophy course even if it had to do with science. Overall this course was surprisingly interesting and I would definitely recommend it to other students.
ReplyDeleteyea I agree with you goose that time stuff was nuts, trying to wrap my mind around the fact that my future is happening and my past is happening all in this certain plain that doesn't relate to anyone else's plain of time is some crazy stuff for me to imagine. The fact that time travel is logical in laws of physics also makes it even more crazy think about, that video was nuts along with black holes, incredibly crazy stuff.
DeleteI think the biggest thing that i will take on this class is the way I've changed when looking at certain issues. This class has given me the ability to take a completely different look at science and our society. This has given me the ability to write more well-rounded papers in my opinion and also allowed me to give new views in class discussion in my other classes. I would definitely be interested in taking another class or to because its something that wasn't biased and was meant for you to ask yourself why this or that.
ReplyDeleteWhat have you learned in this course that surprised you? It really surprised me that there is such a huge connection between science and philosophy. I never thought about philosophy in the way we did in this class. It also really surprised me about how empty space really isn't empty space--like what? I also was surprised about the whole idea of string theory. It was very interesting and I wish I could understand that and quantum mechanics.
ReplyDeleteWould you take another course in philosophy if money/time weren't major barriers? Would I take another philosophy class? Yes, I really would if it didn't mean graduating later or extra money. Would I take another philosophy of science class? Probably not. I would definitely be interested in death and dying though! That seems like it would be a very interesting topic.
Do you have an understanding of the philosophical dimensions of the study and critique of science? I want to say yes, but I'm not 100% sure. This class really opened my mind to new issues for sure though. I will admit, this class was probably one of the hardest classes I've taken so far at TMC. I really struggled writing the papers and answering questions on the blog. I think the struggle stemmed from my lack of knowledge and understanding though. For some reason, science never clicks in my head no matter how hard I try. I did all the readings and really tried to follow along, but science isn't my strong point. I will never understand why, but that's just how it is. As the semester went on, the papers and blogs got a bit easier though because I sort of understood better. But science has always been a hard subject for me to comprehend, so that might explain why I struggled so much.
Have you improved in your skills of analysis and critique, as well as in written and oral communication due to this course? As I said earlier, I think the papers were very challenging. Majority of the papers I wrote I felt very uneasy about because usually writing comes very easy to me, but writing about topics I struggle to comprehend, was very frustrating. I think this class really made me focus on organization and analyzing, though, so I think I improved in those aspects. I also broadened my vocabulary with new terms. As well as oral communication, I know I lacked participating in class. I wish I could have done better, but with my lack of comprehension, I feared saying the wrong answer. I also found myself getting lost in the conversations, so at times I was still pondering a question from 5 minutes ago, while the rest of the class had moved on to a completely new topic.
Overall I'm really glad I took this class. Although I struggled with the class, I think it was a good struggle. It may have taken me all semester to finally understand the concepts we discussed the first week of class--but hey, at least I understand them now! And when I did understand what was going on, I really enjoyed the class. Especially the topic of evolution and religion--I found that to be very interesting. I really think this philosophy class pushed me to think in ways I never imaged. I also really liked how Dr. Cate set up the class and the blogs and discussion--very helpful!
Would you take another course in philosophy if money/time weren't major barriers?
ReplyDeleteI would take another philosophy class as long as the class was set up in a way that this one was. If I was taking a philosophy class that did not have open discussion and debate like the two I am in now it would be terrible. Considering that half the things we discussed in this class I did not have a clue about until it was discussed many times. These philosophy classes have changed my thinking it many ways that I would not have guessed.
I agree without the discussions I wouldnt undertsnad half the things that we talked about. The decissions helped me to understand what was going on. Another thing that helped me to better understand is the videos that we watched. the videos were my favorite part and helped me understand the most.
DeleteI agree with Pat due to the fact that Professor Sherron made the class approachable. She made it easier to understand some of the hard concepts that were involved in science. I had no idea that science was this complex and that is had such a close relationship with philosophy. Without the teachings of this class I would have been still wondering why evolution is so against creationism.
DeleteWhat have you learned in this course that surprised you?
ReplyDeleteWhat has surprised me the most about this course is how often philosophy is used in actual science. A scientists philological views often have a huge way of how they go about there business and what there true beliefs are. Philosophy really has a huge role in the sciences that I did not know was so prevalent.
Have you improved in your skills of analysis and critique, as well as in written and oral communication due to this course?
ReplyDeleteI would say that I have improved my analysis skills and critique skills for sure. with many of the topics we discussed throughout the semester I would have just skimmed over them an only see them in one way before this class. As the semester went on the more I caught myself taking different views on a certain topic that before I would have only seen or interpreted it in one way.
What have you learned in this course that surprised you?
ReplyDeleteI was most surprised by how often philosophy and science overlapped. Before this class, I thought of science and philosophy as being on opposite ends of the spectrum.
Would you take another course in philosophy if money/time weren't major barriers?
I'm not sure. I enjoyed this class, but I feel a large part of that came from the science aspect of the class.
Have you improved in your skills of analysis and critique, as well as in written and oral communication due to this course?
I think the papers definitely helped. The topics required me to focus on the reading in order to understand it. I liked that the material was challenging, but not too much to where it couldn't be understood.
One thing I have learned in this course is the truth behind evolution. At first, I was under the impression that evolution was completely against creationism which I came to find out Darwin did believe in some of the creationist views. To be honest I probably would not take another philosophy class if I did not have to. Yet, I did still have fun in this one. I have developed a new understanding for science and how it is critiqued everyday. I realize that more goes into that and makes me gain respect for it as a whole. I don't think I have quite developed any appreciation for metaphysics or any of the other concepts. But I have started to think more about the ethical things that I do and why I continue to do them.
ReplyDelete