Telling the Scientific Method Story
The scientific method as a bucket filled with Mother Nature’s water with an ever -changing hue.
The science gap is huge. One of the biggest misconceptions hindering the advancement of scientific literacy in society is also one of the most crucial – the scientific method. And no wonder. Most people would look back at primary and secondary school and cringe when thinking about all the facts and concepts they had to memorize in science classes. I cringe when I think of the public concluding science is static and just the sum of all data gathered through the centuries.
The scientific method is dynamic and so is the collection of accepted scientific knowledge
Nothing in science is certain. In the words of the great Richard Feynman:
We absolutely must leave room for doubt or there is no progress and no learning. There is no learning without having to pose a question. And a question requires doubt. People search for certainty. But there is no certainty. People are terrified — how can you live and not know? It is not odd at all. You only think you know, as a matter of fact. And most of your actions are based on incomplete knowledge…
The idea that scientific knowledge is like a statue is a horrible, infectious disease in society. Consider this…
The scientific method is a bucket. This is not just any bucket; it holds all the scientific knowledge gathered throughout history. The bucket is just a utilitarian tool for collecting knowledge. Luckily, this bucket has a hole in the bottom. The scientific method is a two way street and is objective just like a bucket is just a bucket. At the beginning of it all, the bucket was filled with crystal clear water. Mother Nature had filled it for us but all its contents were a complete unknown. As human inquiry began, discoveries were like drops of color that allowed us to have a glimpse of the contents as it dispersed like food coloring in a glass of water. Each new discovery or observation adds a touch of color to the bucket. Nature’s true color will not be observed in our lifetime or possibly at all. Our curiosity and practice only adds to the hue within the bucket.
Sometimes we don’t know the hue of the water is wrong until new knowledge is obtained and added to the large bucket. With addition of the new color, drops of discolored water pour from the hole in the bucket. Soon the prevailing knowledge is uniform within the bucket. Science never sleeps so this constant increase in knowledge and data get us one step closer to the true color of the universe, or so we think until we find out the hue is all wrong as the hole opens and a novel color drops in.
