| How exactly, does science work? How do
scientists go about doing science? Ordinarily we think science proceeds in a
straight-forward way. Ideally scientists make observations, formulate hypotheses
(假设), and test those hypotheses by making further observations. When there is
difference between what is observed and what is predicted by the hypothesis, the
hypothesis is revised. Science proceeds in this way, which is a gradual method
of finding the best fit between observation and prediction. But this idealized version of how one does science is naive. Although science demands proof that observations made by one observer be observable by other observers using the same methods, it is by no means dear that, even when confronted with identical phenomena, different observers will report identical observations. And it is most certain that, even if the same observations are made, the conclusions as to the meaning of the observations frequently differ. The fact is that all of us, scientists included, see differently. Variations in human perception are well known and have been studied extensively. Alterations in perception are frequently seen among observers, even though they may be in identical settings viewing identical phenomena. A documented misconception from history can be found in the experience of Darwin. His ship, Beagle, after anchoring off the Patagonian coast, sent off a landing party in small rowboats. Amazingly, the Patagonian natives watching from shore were blind to the Beagle, but could easily see the tiny rowboats! They had no prior experience of huge sailing ships, but small rowing vessels were an everyday part of their life. Rowboats fit their model of the world and huge ships did not. Their model determined their perceptions. Our idea that science proceeds on an utterly objective and straightforward basis ignores the distortions (歪曲) of reality imposed by our own perceptual apparatus. In many cases we see what we have been trained to see, what we are used to seeing. If a subject is fitted with special glasses that are designed to invert.(颠倒) the visual field, at first the subject sees everything upside down. After a period of time, as the glasses continue to be worn, a correction is made by our perceptual mechanism and the image is flipped, so that the world once again appears erect. |