The lecture began with a discussion of the differences between technology and science. Technology is concerned with man-made things and takes an application-oriented approach. In class, we did an activity about our perception, eyes and minds. We were shown two pictures, with different images. Everyone was asked what the picture meant. For me, it was the woman with a white cover on her head. It took several minutes for me to be able to discern the hidden picture. We discussed the difference between observation and perception after the activity. We learned that people perceive things differently, so they may see something completely different than you.
After I had finished my home work, I started to see the point more clearly when I was browsing social media. A picture of a colorblind person caught my eye, and I realized that people born without this ability are not able to identify colors. Moving on in the lecture, we then investigated the three different types of scientific methods which may have been used by scientists in their times, these are; the inductive approach, deductive approach and the hypothetico-deductive approach. Induction is a form of valid reasoning. It starts with observations. After a pattern has been observed, it can lead to a hypothesis and finally, a new theory. One example from class that I recall is the one about the swans. An inductive theory was used to determine that all of the swans had the same opinion. However, when a black bird appeared, it proved this entire theory wrong. Induction suffers from a major flaw because it is possible to prove theories false. Deductive reasoning relies on a “premise”, which is the statement that supports a conclusion. Inductive reasoning requires that you first formulate a testable assumption and then conduct experiments to observe the results. We then moved on to the much more reliable and most beneficial approach, which is the hypothetico-deductive method. This is the only method that can be considered a ‘true science’. The deductive method includes testing a theory to see if it’s true, and then examining its consistency.
This lecture was very helpful to me as I learned more. It took a lot of work, but I did my homework at home. I still didn’t get discouraged from what I hadn’t understood in the beginning. It is important to remember that the perspective of a situation can change. This will help me continue my work in the course.