Wow, that is seriously well-written. I opened it on Google Books and it sucked me in immediately and for 45 minutes before coming up air to get back to work.
Paul Paul Bernhardt Dept of Psychology Frostburg State University pcbernhardt _at_ frostburg _dot_ edu On Jul 13, 2010, at 12:07 PM, peter...@svsu.edu wrote: > Massimo Pigliucci's book Nonsense on Stilts, part of my summer reading, does > a nice job of exploring these ideas and misconceptions. Gary > > > GPeterson > Gary's iPad > > On Jul 13, 2010, at 12:01 PM, Marc Carter <marc.car...@bakeru.edu> wrote: > >> >> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: Mike Palij [mailto:m...@nyu.edu] >> >>>> On Tue, 13 Jul 2010 01:07:19 -0700, Michael Smith wrote: >> >> [snippage snipped] >> >>>> especially the social sciences which just aren't on par with the >>>> physical sciences. >>> >>> This is a curious statement because it assumes that there is >>> a common metric that one can use to compare the achievements >>> in different domains of the sciences. I wonder which >>> metric(s) Prof. Smith is using as the basis for this? Can he >>> enlighten us? >> >> I share your curiosity. >> >> I often get into this discussion with people in the "hard" sciences. When I >> ask them to tell me what differentiates a "hard" from "soft" science, they >> can't do it. >> >> When I ask them why biology is considered a "hard" science, especially given >> parts of biology that are in no way I can determine different from >> psychological science, they can't tell me. >> >> So I would really like to know. >> >> Science is method, not content, and doesn't have anything to do with the >> difference in variability or reliability of the result. It's a method for >> finding things out (or more accurately, it's a method for telling you when >> you're wrong). Physics uses it, biology uses it, psychology uses, and so >> on. I don't get the distinction between hard and soft science -- it >> literally makes no sense to me. We differ in technique, in subject of >> investigation, in accuracy in prediction (for many things -- things which I >> as a behaviorist would say are due to the scientists' ignorance and not >> anything intrinsic to the subject). >> >> But none of those have to do with the method. >> >> m >> >> The information contained in this e-mail and any attachments thereto >> ("e-mail") is sent by Baker University ("BU") and is intended to be >> confidential and for the use of only the individual or entity named above. >> The information may be protected by federal and state privacy and >> disclosures acts or other legal rules. If the reader of this message is not >> the intended recipient, you are notified that retention, dissemination, >> distribution or copying of this e-mail is strictly prohibited. If you have >> received this e-mail in error please immediately notify Baker University by >> email reply and immediately and permanently delete this e-mail message and >> any attachments thereto. Thank you. >> >> --- >> You are currently subscribed to tips as: peter...@svsu.edu. >> To unsubscribe click here: >> http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13445.e3edca0f6e68bfb76eaf26a8eb6dd94b&n=T&l=tips&o=3561 >> or send a blank email to >> leave-3561-13445.e3edca0f6e68bfb76eaf26a8eb6dd...@fsulist.frostburg.edu >> > > > --- > You are currently subscribed to tips as: pcbernha...@frostburg.edu. > To unsubscribe click here: > http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13441.4e79e96ebb5671bdb50111f18f263003&n=T&l=tips&o=3562 > or send a blank email to > leave-3562-13441.4e79e96ebb5671bdb50111f18f263...@fsulist.frostburg.edu --- You are currently subscribed to tips as: arch...@jab.org. To unsubscribe click here: http://fsulist.frostburg.edu/u?id=13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df5d5&n=T&l=tips&o=3566 or send a blank email to leave-3566-13090.68da6e6e5325aa33287ff385b70df...@fsulist.frostburg.edu
