Observation - Speaker Deck

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Knowledge and Observation Descartes -vs- Galileo George Matthews CC 2017

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“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” William Shakespeare, Hamlet, 1600

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“It is now some years since I detected how many were the false beliefs that I had from my earliest youth admitted as true, and how doubtful was everything I had since constructed on this basis; and from that time I was convinced that I must once for all seriously undertake to rid myself of all the opinions which I had formerly accepted, and commence to build anew from the foundation, if I wanted to establish any ﬁrm and permanent structure in the sciences.” Rene Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy, 1641

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“For in the sciences the authority of thousands of opinions is not worth as much as one tiny spark of reason in an individual man. Besides, the modern observations deprive all former writers of any authority, since if they had seen what we see, they would have judged as we judge.” Galileo Galilei, Letter to Mark Wesler, 1615

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Descartes’ Dream

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Descartes’ Dream

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Descartes’ Dream ! Our thinking about the world is representational.

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Descartes’ Dream ! Our thinking about the world is representational. ! Thoughts are encoded in arbritrary symbols that need not resemble what they are about.

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Descartes’ Dream ! Our thinking about the world is representational. ! Thoughts are encoded in arbritrary symbols that need not resemble what they are about. ! Knowing something about reality requires a reliable way of connecting thoughts to reality.

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Descartes’ Dream

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Galileo’s Ship

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Galileo’s Ship

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Galileo’s Ship ! Our observations always take place within a frame of reference.

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Galileo’s Ship ! Our observations always take place within a frame of reference. ! The accuracy of our measurements is dependent upon the perspective of the one making the measurements.

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Galileo’s Ship ! Our observations always take place within a frame of reference. ! The accuracy of our measurements is dependent upon the perspective of the one making the measurements. ! Knowing something about reality requires a reliable way of calibrating our instruments.

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Galileo’s Ship

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scientiﬁc observation

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scientiﬁc observation ! Consider the inﬂuence of your perspective.

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scientiﬁc observation ! Consider the inﬂuence of your perspective. ! Measure phenomena more precisely.

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scientiﬁc observation ! Consider the inﬂuence of your perspective. ! Measure phenomena more precisely. ! Extend the range of the senses.

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scientiﬁc observation ! Consider the inﬂuence of your perspective. ! Measure phenomena more precisely. ! Extend the range of the senses. ! Let patterns emerge from the data itself.

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scientiﬁc observation ! Consider the inﬂuence of your perspective. ! Measure phenomena more precisely. ! Extend the range of the senses. ! Let patterns emerge from the data itself. ! Develop an appropriate language for description.

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