Invention and Discovery - Essay Example

Invention and Discovery. Discuss the claim that some areas of knowledge are discovered and others are invented. Discuss different ways of knowing and areas of knowledge. There is a thin line between a discovery and an invention. While a discovery belongs to the realm of science, an invention belongs to engineering. It can also be said that inventions are copies of original things that we have discovered. That is the case of an airplane and a bird. The airplane is just a copy of the original bird. So inventions are artifacts while the objects of discovery are living creatures. Brownpanda deals with the issue of discoveries and inventions in the following terms: "Put simply, we need to distinguish between invention and discovery. Invention is of our making while discovery is what we can learn of God's making. How can we tell I suggest there is this first and most simple difference. A discovery is something someone else can test for himself and find out if it is true or not. An invention is something that is true only because of the inventor. (...) Science is therefore a discipline of discovery while engineering is a discipline of invention. And if we compare the findings of science and what we can learn from engineering, we discover that science is always surprising while engineering is always explicable." (Brownpanda, 2006). Even though there is a thin line between discoveries and inventions, the factors stated by Brownpanda are very convincing since discoveries can be associated to science and inventions to engineering. In this case, the difference is quite clear. Brownpanda makes the following assertions in order to find the difference between discoveries and inventions: "I want to suggest something further. Discovery, if we touch upon truth, will always reveal the divine intelligence. And this divine intelligence has certain characteristics: its laws are always simple, its consequences are always amazing, its forms are always beautiful, and while it can be appreciated by all, it is always beyond our understanding. Invention, however wonderful, can always be picked apart and understood. It is often complicated. Take for example a car, it is essentially an internal combustion engine. But there are so many other bits to it and each of the bits is there to solve a specific and particular problem. Take an animal, in contrast. On the surface, it appears simple. You can easily draw anaologies between the animal or human body and the car. But what makes an animal or a human being is not the body but the fact that they are alive. And the reason why they are alive is because they came from another living thing." (Brownpanda, 2006). On the other hand, Fll explains the difference between inventions and discoveries as follows: "Discovery means that the laws of nature exist in a defined form, totally independent of humans or anybody else below the level of an almighty being, and that there is a possibility to discover them in total (if there is a finite number of natural laws) or at least in parts and to describe them in some language (including the language of mathematics). Maybe we find only parts, or we see the laws coarse-grained (i.e. in some approximations), but it is out there to be discovered." (Fll, n. d.) So there is a point of connection between Brownpanda and Fll when they associate discoveries to the divine intelligence or God's making. Klint finds that discoveries and inventions are differentiated through another point of view as stated below: "In the natural sciences there is a conceptual tool to make a distinction between discovery and invention: discoveries are embodied in nature while inventions are embodied in artefacts. Notions such as reality'' and observation'' are used to explain that the instruments--being artefacts--used during experiments lead to valid conclusions that are independent from the actual instruments being used." (Flint, 2006). Regarding the different ways of knowing, there are 4 distinct ways of getting knowledge: sense perception, language, reason, and emotion. The International Baccaulaureate Organization deals with this topic and provides the following explanations: "Sense Perception "We perceive the world through our five senses: sense perception is the active, selective and interpretative process of recording or becoming conscious of the external world. Because sensory perception is an important dimension of our understanding of the world, its function and scope should be examined and critically evaluated. (...) "Language "Language is so much a part of human activity that it is easily taken for granted. The issues related to language and knowledge call for conscious scrutiny in order to recognize its influence on thought and behaviour. "Language can be thought of as a symbol system, engaged in representing the world, capturing and communicating thought and experience. Language also can be seen as existing in itself, as something to be played with and transformed and shaped in its own right and something that can transform and shape thought and action. (...) "Reason "Reason is a way of knowing that involves different elements. In a very general sense, reasoning is a collective endeavour by which people construct meaning together by exchanging, modifying and improving their ideas and opinions. When someone makes a claim to know, it is legitimate to ask for reasons and to expect that these will be coherent. Arguments require consistency. Reason is perhaps as present in everyday decision making and problem solving as it is in mathematics, sciences and other areas of knowledge. The requirements of logical validity and rigour serve these various purposes. "In different degrees and in different ways, it is arguable that reason has its place in many, if not all, areas of knowledge as well as in the everyday experience of individuals and the groups to which we belong. It may be worth considering how reason is used in these different domains to discover and create, to articulate, to justify and assess knowledge claims. For when disputes arise, what is at issue is not only the substance or facts of the matter, but also the appropriateness of the reasons given for acceptance of the facts, and the validity of the logical procedures used in reaching the conclusion. (...) "Emotion "Emotions play a powerful role in shaping thoughts, influencing behaviour, and steering the pursuit of knowledge. While emotions may be a key to self-understanding and to understand the world, the extent to which they contribute to both can be explored through a discussion of questions... probing the nature, value, and limits of emotion as a way of knowing." (International Baccaulaureate Organization, 2006). According to International Baccaraureate Organization the the areas of knowledge "are subject areas or disciplines into which knowledge is frequently classified. They may be seen as an application of ways of knowing, perhaps shaped by methodology, to particular subject matter." The areas of knowledge are mathematics, natural sciences, human sciences, history, the arts, and ethics. The International Baccalaureate Organization gives the following explanations about the areas of knowledge: "Mathematics "From a TOK (Theory of Knowledge) point of view mathematics is a rather special area of knowledge. On the one hand it seems to supply a certainty often missing in other disciplines. On the other hand, its methods -for example, the application of strict logical procedures to supposedly self-evident first principles- suggest a subject matter that is removed from the real world. It is hardly surprising then to find a variety of responses to mathematical knowledge, from astonishment at the beauty of some mathematical argument, to wonder at the power of mathematics to solve problems in the sciences or engineering, to frustration in the face of apparently meaningless symbols manipulated as part of a pointless game. (...) "Natural Sciences "The natural sciences reflect a concerted effort on the part of humans to search for understanding of the world. Like any other human endeavour, the development of scientific knowledge forms a web with more practical, even everyday, interests and concerns. The natural sciences are recognized as a model for knowledge owing to many factors, prime among which is their capacity to explain and make precise predictions. "The influence of the natural sciences permeates much of modern life, for example, in the widespread and growing use of technologies. This prominece has led to a wide variety of attitudes towards the nature, scope and value of the natural sciences. (...) "Human Sciences "It is often said that human behaviour is unpredictable, and that this is what makes it impossible to study humans scientifically. But our everyday interactions depend on the fact that we do, most of the time, think we know how other people will respond to what we say or do. "Research in the human sciences often has a relationship to practical matters and concerns. Market research typically aims to increase profits; research in economics may seek to influence public policy. (...) "History "Although history is sometimes considered a human science, it is treated separately because, unlike all the other human sciences, or indeed other sciences in general, knowers cannot directly observe the past. This characteristic of history opens up many questions of knowledge that are unique to it. "History reflects an attempt on the part of individuals and communities to understand the temporal nature of human life. "Remembering the past" is never straightforward. (...) "The Arts ""The arts" is a very broad field. It is hard to say clearly what it includes; it is even harder to characterize it simply. As used here, the term certainly includes literature... and... dance, film, music, theatre and visual arts. The differences between the forms may be at least as interesting as their similarities. (...) "Ethics "Few areas of the TOK course are concerned with such immediate and personal matters as ethics. Ethics involves a discussion of the way we ought to live our lives, the distinctions between right and wrong, the justification of moral judgments, and the implications of moral actions for the individual and the group. In TOK, the major emphasis is on how we can know or justify what we ought to do. In this sense, an exploration of ethical questions from the point of view of TOK focuses on knowledge issues woven and implied in them, rather than exclusively on the questions themselves." (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2006). Holt states that there are two sources of knowledge: empiricism and rationalism (Holt, 2005-2006). Discoveries and inventions spring from different sources. Both of them are important for acquiring knowledge. We learn a lot from discoveries and inventions. Out of discoveries we get new insight for new inventions. Innovation depends most of the time on our capacity for new discoveries and inventions. References. Brownpanda. (2006, Oct 27). Invention and discovery. (online). Available from: . [Accessed 22 November 2009]. Fll, H. (n. d.) Discovery or invention. (online). University of Kiel. Available from: . [Accessed 22 November 2009]. Holt, T. (2005-2006). Theory of Knowledge. (online). Available from: . [Accessed 22 November 2009]. International Baccaulaureate Organization. (2006, March). Theory of Knowledge. (online). Available from: . [Accessed 22 November 2009]. Klint, P. (2006, June 2). Discovery versus invention. (online). Available from: . [Accessed 22 November 2009]. Read More