Science, ethnicity, and bias: where have we gone wrong?

The quality, quantity, and funding of ethnic minority research have been inadequate. One factor that has contributed to this inadequacy is the practice of scientific psychology. Although principles of psychological science involve internal and external validity, in practice psychology emphasizes internal validity in research studies. Because many psychological principles and measures have not been cross-validated with different populations, those conducting ethnic minority research often have a more difficult time demonstrating rigorous internal validity. Thus, psychology's overemphasis of internal as opposed to external validity has differentially hindered the development of ethnic minority research. To develop stronger research knowledge on ethnic minority groups, it is important that (a) all research studies address external validity issues and explicitly specify the populations to which the findings are applicable; (b) different research approaches, including the use of qualitative and ethnographic methods, be appreciated; and (c) the psychological meaning of ethnicity or race be examined in ethnic comparisons.     

Science, Ethics and War: A Pacifist’s Perspective

This article considers the ethical aspects of the question: should a scientist engage in war-related research, particularly use-inspired or applied research directed at the development of the means for the better waging of war? Because scientists are simultaneously professionals, citizens of a particular country, and human beings, they are subject to conflicting moral and practical demands. There are three major philosophical views concerning the morality of war that are relevant to this discussion: realism, just war theory and pacifism. In addition, the requirements of professional codes of ethics and common morality contribute to an ethical analysis of the involvement of scientists and engineers in war-related research and technology. Because modern total warfare, which is facilitated by the work of scientists and engineers, results in the inevitable killing of innocents, it follows that most, if not all, war-related research should be considered at least as morally suspect and probably as morally prohibited.     

U.S. College Students’ Perception of Religion and Science: Conflict,Collaboration, or Independence? A Research Note

This research examines how undergraduates perceive the relationship between religion and science and the factors that shape those perceptions. Longitudinal data generated from the Spirituality in Higher Education Project representing a national sample of undergraduates is analyzed. The analysis finds that, despite the seeming predominance of a conflict‐oriented narrative, the majority of undergraduates do not view the relationship between these two institutions as one of conflict. Undergraduate students are also more likely to move away from a conflict perspective than to adopt one during their college years. However, there are significant differences across fields of study and levels of religiosity. Students in the education and business fields, for example, are most likely to adopt a pro‐religion conflict stance during college. Future research might examine the mechanisms that lead students in some fields towards or away from a conflict perspective.     

Science Literacy in School and Home Contexts: Kindergarteners’ Science Achievement and Motivation

We examined science learning and motivation outcomes as a function of children's participation in the classroom and classroom-plus-home components of the Scientific Literacy Project (SLP). The sample was comprised of kindergarten children in 4 low income, neighboring schools. Children in Schools 1 and 2 (n = 120) participated in the SLP science activities. Of these children, 79 participated in the classroom component of the SLP whereas 41 participated in both the classroom and home components. A comparison group of children in schools 3 and 4 (n = 74) participated in regular science activities. We identified science learning, achievement, and motivational benefits for the SLP groups. Additional benefits for children who participated in both the classroom and home components of the SLP were greater gains in general science knowledge, higher levels of positive self-competence beliefs for science, perceived family support for learning science, and independence for learning science.     

Randomness,Contingency, and Faith: Is there a Science of Subjectivity?

Materialists argue that there is no place for God in the universe. Chance and contingency are all that structure our world. However, the materialists’ dismissal of subjectivity manifests a flawed metaphysics that invalidates their arguments against God. In this essay I explore the following: (1) How does personal metaphysics affect one's ability to do science? (2) Are the materialist arguments about contingency used to dismiss the importance of our place in the universe valid? (3) What are the implications of subjectivity on belief and science? To answer the first question, I examine the later years of Sir Alfred Russel Wallace, one of the cofounders of evolution through natural selection with Darwin. His belief in nineteenth–century spiritualism profoundly affected his standing in the scientific community. I describe the effect of spiritualism on Wallace's science. To answer the second question, I use my own work in mathematical modeling of evolutionary processes to show that randomness, and contingency at one level, can actually be nearly deterministic at another. I demonstrate how arguments about chance and contingency do not imply anything relevant about whether there is a designer behind the universe. To answer the third question I begin by exploring a paradox of consciousness and show how the existence of subjective truths may provide a paradigm for sustaining a rational belief in God. These questions form the framework of a structured belief in a creator while yet embracing what science has to offer about the development of life on our planet.     

Colorado’s Fracking Debates: Citizen Science,Conflict and Collaboration

Technological advancements in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling have spurred a controversial boom in oil and gas production. In Colorado, these debates take place directly in the suburban metro corridor, where local governments are turning to memorandums of understanding (MOU), negotiated directly with industry operators, to shape industry activity. We show that in Erie, the town that first pioneered this policy tool, these MOUs ostensibly welcome public participation in the planning and deliberation process but can unintentionally reinforce scientism-based governance. Citizen science challenged the local government’s deficit model of the public, but it also shored up scientific authority and triggered a government imaginary of anti-fracking activists as an unruly public. Residents countered this imaginary by electing officials committed to public engagement and transparency, which opened up debates to encompass quality of life issues that had been sidelined by the original focus on competing scientific evidence about pollution. While fracking-related citizen science does not appear to be directly responsible for the government turnover and its attendant shift in governance, we suggest it did enhance civic engagement related to general issues of fiscal responsibility, ethics and transparency that did play a role in the election.     

Applying Science and Applied Science: What’s the Difference?

Prandtl’s work on the boundary layer theory is an interesting example for illustrating several important issues in philosophy of science such as the relation between theories and models and whether it is possible to distinguish, in a principled way, between pure and applied science. In what follows I discuss several proposals by the symposium participants regarding the interpretation of Prandtl’s work and whether it should be characterized as an instance of applied science. My own interpretation of this example (1999) emphasised the degree of autonomy embedded in Prandtl’s boundary layer model and the way it became integrated in the larger theoretical context of hydrodynamics. In addition to extending that discussion here I also claim that the characterization of applied science which formed the basis for the symposium does not enable us to successfully distinguish applied science from the general practice of ‘applying’ basic scientific knowledge in a variety of contexts.     

Sinnott-Armstrong,Walter, ed., Moral Psychology Volume 2. The Cognitive Science of Morality: Intuition and Diversity,Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2008, pp. xviii + 585, US$30 (paper)

It is plausible that the universe exists: a thing such that absolutely everything is a part of it. It is also plausible that singular, structured propositions exist: propositions that literally have individuals as parts. Furthermore, it is plausible that for each thing, there is a singular, structured proposition that has it as a part. Finally, it is plausible that parthood is a partial ordering: reflexive, transitive, and anti-symmetric. These plausible claims cannot all be correct. We canvass some costs of denying each claim and conclude that parthood is not a partial ordering. Provided that the relevant entities exist, parthood is not anti-symmetric and proper parthood is neither asymmetric nor transitive.     

Enchanted nature,dissected nature: the case of Galen’s anatomical theology

Through the historical portrait of Galen, I argue that even an enchanted nature does not prevent the performance of violence against nature. Galen (129–c. 216 CE), the great physician-philosopher of antiquity, is best known for his systematization and innovation of the Hippocratic medical tradition, whose thought was the reigning medical orthodoxy from the medieval period into the Renaissance. His works on anatomy were the standard that Vesalius’ works on anatomy overturned. What is less known about Galen’s study of anatomy, however, is its philosophical and theological edge. In this paper, I show that it is precisely because nature is enchanted that Galen undertakes the grisly practices of anatomical dissection and vivisection, which entail violence against nature. First, I illustrate the violent character of Galen’s anatomical experiments. Second, I elucidate Galen’s anatomical methodology as a form of philosophizing and theologizing with a scalpel. Third, I explicate the importance of the demonstration of divine teleology that anatomical dissection reveals. Fourth, I sketch how anatomical dissection as a way of knowing nature and God becomes a kind of anatomical, liturgical theology. I conclude that, at least for Galen, an enchanted nature is not in itself exempt from violence.     

Buddhism and Science: Allies or Enemies?

Buddhist teachings and modern science are analogous both in their approach to the search for truth and in some of the discoveries of contemporary physics, biology, and psychology. However, despite these congruencies and the recognized benefits of science, Buddhism reminds us of the dangers of a tendency toward scientific reductionism and imperialism and of the sciences' inability to deal with human moral and spiritual values and needs. Buddhism and science have human concerns and final goals that are different, but as long as the boundaries between them are not trespassed, they can be mutually corrective and allied to benefit humankind. Buddhism must be open to the discoveries of science about the physical world as must all religions today, but no matter how much it may have to modify some of its ancient beliefs, its basic truths—the truths about human suffering and its release—will remain untouched.     

Science,atherosclerosis and the “age of unreason”: A review

Research in atherosclerosis has been dominated by the lipid hypothesis. The pathology of both the cholesterol-fed animal and of familial hypercholesterolemia has been misrepresented. The vascular lesions of these disorders are not atherosclerotic but manifestations of fat storage. There has been undue faith in the epidemiology of coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis. Fundamental defects in the epidemiological approach to the cause of atherosclerosis include: (1) misuse of cause and risk factors; (2) misuse of coronary heart disease as an imprecise and inappropriate surrogate endpoint in clinical and mortality studies; (3) use of fallacious monocausal death certificates and mortality rates; (4) assumed causal role of risk factors; (5) use of fallacious dietary data; (6) ecological fallacies; (7) nonspecificity of statistical correlations and selection bias; (8) failure to take note of inconsistencies; (9) inappropriate use of the blood cholesterol level as a surrogate of atherosclerosis (substitution game) without demonstration of any such effect on arteries; and (10) misplaced faith in pathological and experimental corroborative evidence. The epidemiology of atherosclerosis is based on unscientific methodology and the lipid hypothesis as currently envisaged is invalid. There is need to review the cholesterol-lowering campaign especially for normolipidemic subjects.