Tutorial Ticket (Week 7)
PART ONE: TWEET
Write your response to ONE of the following questions as a tweet (ie. Less than 140 characters):
1. What is science?
2. What is the scientific method?
PART TWO: INDUCTION IN THE REAL WORLD
1. Read “Thoughts about Thought” in the Paul Davies extract [from The Mind of God: the scientific basis for a rational world, Simon & Schuster, 1992] to get an understanding of “inductive reasoning.”
2. Identify an example in either the recent news, or in your own personal life, where some hypothesis, that had been arrived at inductively, was found to be wrong.
3. Briefly explain what the hypothesis was, how it was proved wrong, and what the consequences were. (dot points are fine)
PART ONE: TWEETS
1. Science is the methodical search for knowledge of our environment, either to better understand our lives or to improve technology.
2. The scientific method: look around, think about it, propose a cause, test your thoughts, try and try again.
PART TWO: INDUCTION IN THE REAL WORLD
The Gillard Government’s Malaysian solution was in some ways an example of inductive reasoning. The Government had evidence that the past Pacific Solution and offshore processing of refugees had continued without challenge from the High Court. From these particular cases or practices, the general hypothesis was reached that any measure of sending refugees arriving in Australian waters to other states would go unchallenged. The curiously roundabout Malaysian solution developed as a result.
Last week, the High Court ruled that the Malaysian solution was not constitutionally valid and thus that the inductive hypothesis was incorrect. As a result, not only has the Malaysian program been cancelled, the entire future of offshore processing is under question.
1. Science is the methodical search for knowledge of our environment, either to better understand our lives or to improve technology.
2. The scientific method: look around, think about it, propose a cause, test your thoughts, try and try again.
PART TWO: INDUCTION IN THE REAL WORLD
The Gillard Government’s Malaysian solution was in some ways an example of inductive reasoning. The Government had evidence that the past Pacific Solution and offshore processing of refugees had continued without challenge from the High Court. From these particular cases or practices, the general hypothesis was reached that any measure of sending refugees arriving in Australian waters to other states would go unchallenged. The curiously roundabout Malaysian solution developed as a result.
Last week, the High Court ruled that the Malaysian solution was not constitutionally valid and thus that the inductive hypothesis was incorrect. As a result, not only has the Malaysian program been cancelled, the entire future of offshore processing is under question.