quote:
Certain human behaviors are more surprising than we'd expect... but:
Still not as predictable as what we can measure in physics.
The overwhelming majority of behaviors are so variable!
Science is a set of procedures that attempts to come to some conclusions about the world around us. Basically, science consists of developing theories that explain the world and/or making predictions about observations that should be seen. The procedure is that one starts with a theory, one makes a prediction about what one should observe based on that theory, one then checks to see if the observations are as predicted, one then modifies or discards the theory, and then one repeats the procedure all over again. Experimental psychology follows this procedure, and so qualifies as a science by definition.
The problem is not that human behavior is not predictable; the physical world is just as unpredictable if the system is too complicated for easy analysis; I like the example of meteorology, or of the disputes in global warming.
Nor is the problem in that there are too many variables.
The problem is that the idea of what makes us human is such an emotionally important issue that there is the danger that many researchers may not be able to keep their own beliefs and desires from influencing how they interpret the results (or even how they set up their experimental protocols). The example of creationists examining and doing biological sciences (or even the often acrimonious arguments over the nature of the KT extinctions among legitimate scientists 20 years ago) shows how this is a problem even in fields that are indisputably sciences.
Added by edit:Speaking of the difficulty if personal biases involving the psychological sciences, let me bring people's attention again to holmes'
thread concerning the political reaction against a the conclusions from a particular bit of psychological research.
This message has been edited by Chiroptera, 15-Oct-2005 08:30 PM
"Intellectually, scientifically, even artistically, fundamentalism -- biblical literalism -- is a road to nowhere, because it insists on fidelity to revealed truths that are not true." -- Katha Pollitt