Importance of Scientist Cultural Heritage - Coursework Example

Running Head: ZEITGEIST / ORTGEIST Zeitgeist / Ortgeist of Psychology: Scientist are Products of the Times and Places in which they were Born [Insert Name of Student] [Insert School] Abstract Scientists are products of social construction. In this paper, the writer argues that scientists’ cultural heritage is instrumental in forming their weltanschauung (world view). And contrary to the assumption that the practice of science is sharply demarcated from belief systems, it affects their conduct of scientific research, experimentation, and analysis. Introduction Anais Nin once stated that we don’t see thing as they are; we see things as we are. From this statement, this paper attempts to argue that the culture and background of scientists are instrumental in forming their belief system – their biases, inclinations, dispositions – and, ultimately, how they conduct their scientific research, experimentation, and analysis. Ortgeist (spirit of the place) is the influence of a given culture upon theories and research. Zeitgeist (spirit of the time) is a prevailing cultural climate that affects people’s thinking and acting. This paper is divided into seven parts. The first section explains that, contrary to common public perception, science is not just a body of knowledge, but a way of thinking. The second section emphasizes the importance and influence of a budding scientist’s learning environment by citing the simile of the fox terrier clone. The third section provides an overview of the social constructivism theory, upon which this paper relies heavily as the basis for its arguments. The fourth section discusses the birth and development of psychology in Japan and traces how it was shaped by prevailing influences at that time. The fifth section describes the history of psychology in the former Soviet Union and how it was affected and controlled by political leaders. The sixth section cites the case of famous scientist Sigmund Freud and traces his influences from his beginnings to the time of his death. The last section provides a summary and conclusion of the paper. Science as Way of Thinking Sagan (1979) states that “science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge. For what we ‘know’ in the scientific sense about the physical world and, indeed, what we mean by ‘knowledge’, is a function of the means by which we come by knowledge.” The scientific method is testimony to this statement. Among the many assumptions of sciences are the following: a) it is cumulative and unified; b) it has some underlying logic implicit in all scientific evaluations that are value-free; c) it has a sharp demarcation from other belief systems; d) observation is a neutral basis for testing theories; and e) its terms have precise and fixed meanings. It Begins with the Learning Environment How we think and act are heavily if not completely influenced by the environment during our formative years. An appropriate analogy here would be the simile of the fox terrier clone. Gould (1988) writes: “When Asta the fox terrier exhumed the body of the Thin Man, his delightfully tipsy detective master, Nick Charles, exclaimed, ‘You’re not a terrier, you’re a police dog.’ …Fox terriers were bred ‘to dig out foxes from their burrows, when a fox had to earth during a traditional British hunt.’ Apparently, generations of fox-hunting gentlemen selected fox terriers not only for their functional role in the hunt but also under a breeder’s artifice to make them look as much like horses as possible.” Indeed, how we turn out as persons and, ultimately, as professionals, all boils down to how are shaped by various influences in our environment. And in the context of scientists, perhaps none is as longstanding and as important as education. (Paul) underscores how crucial education is by citing disastrous consequences of flawed American science textbooks. He explains that increasing commercialization of textbooks has engendered virtual cloning of contents. It doesn’t encourage improvement or improvement. The case of biology textbooks published between 1978 and 1984, most still used Burt’s fabricated data and experiment on heredity using identical twins. Gould (1988) writes: “Today’s textbooks are thicker, slicker, more elaborate, and more expensive than they used to be. They are also more alike. Indeed, many are virtual clones, both stylistic and substantive, of a market leader.” A Matter of Social Construction Social constructivism, as a learning theory, emphasizes the importance of the background and culture of the learner. It encourages the student to draw his own conclusions / versions of the truth, influenced by his or her background, culture or embedded worldview. Palincsar (1998) writes: “Historical developments and symbol systems, such as language, logic, and mathematical systems, are inherited by the learner as a member of a particular culture and these are learned throughout the learner's life. This also stresses the importance of the nature of the learner's social interaction with knowledgeable members of the society. Without the social interaction with other more knowledgeable people, it is impossible to acquire social meaning of important symbol systems and learn how to utilize them. Young children develop their thinking abilities by interacting with other children, adults and the physical world. From the social constructivist viewpoint, it is thus important to take into account the background and culture of the learner throughout the learning process, as this background also helps to shape the knowledge and truth that the learner creates, discovers and attains in the learning process.” Birth and Development of Psychology in Japan Psychology in Japan was born in the latter half of the 19th century after much importation of knowledge from foreigners. It can be divided into three phases, beginning with the introduction of American mental philosophy in Japan, followed by British empiricism and evolutionary thought, and solidified by the entrance of German experimental psychology in the country (Azumi & Imada, 1994). Western influence on Japanese psychology is so strong that many other Japanese words were coined to make sense of Western knowledge. English words such as “reason,” “understanding,” “induction,” and “reduction” were nonexistent to the Japanese language before the entrance of the science into the country. Other existing abstract terms were also put in the context of Western interpretation. Ego (jiga) and self (jiko) existed before the Meiji restoration but were then understood in the context of Buddhism. They were soon put in the context of Freud’s life theory. Moreover, the distinction of “subjective” and “objective” was unknown in Japanese culture, as was the Western view of human nature independent of ethics and religion.1 Even acceptance of scientific theories is tied up with a country’s culture. For instance the Theory on Origin of the Species was published in 1859 but the introduction of evolutionary theory did not occur until the American zoologist Edward Morse (1838-1925) arrived in Japan in 1877. Morse wanted to study brachiopods in Japan to collect samples and Toyama offered him a professorship in zoology at the University of Tokyo. Morse gave his first lecture on evolutionary theory to biology students in September 1877 and was shocked at how well the theory was received and embraced. The evolutionary theory was well-received because Japanese macaques were common in Japan. In addition, since the 13th century a form of entertainment was the teaching of monkeys to mime human behaviour (saru-mawashi). Thus, the bond between primates and humans was stronger and more longstanding than in any Western country. Japanese are also accustomed to the Buddhist belief of transmigration of the soul - an animal can change into another animal. Japanese culture, therefore, allowed for a loose boundary between humans and animals. History of Psychology in the former Soviet Union Psychiatric facilities in the now defunct Soviet Union have been used as instruments of political repression. They are manifestation of how the practice of science and scientists themselves are products of the times and places they were born to. In the case of Soviet psychiatry, facilities and psychiatrists became instruments of political torture. They were used to imprison dissidents to the Soviet government in mental hospitals. Lomov (1982) writes that the Soviet Academy of Sciences was founded by the Soviet government, and was in effect never free from political influence. It is manifested through Andrei Snezhnvesky, director of Moscow school of psychiatry and director of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and his broad definition of schizophrenia, which includes two subtypes: creeping and sluggish schizophrenia. Faraone (1982) further explains: “The politicization of Soviet psychiatric diagnoses is also seen in the following examples of psychiatric characterizations of the mental illnesses of dissidents: ‘nervous exhaustion brought on by her search for justice,’ ‘reformist delusions,’ psychopathic paranoia with overvalued ideas and tendencies to litigation,’ ‘schizophrenia with religious delirium, ‘delusional ideas of reformism and struggle with the existing social political system in the USSR,’ and ‘a mania for reconstructing society.” Soviet psychology relied heavily on Marxist-Leninist philosophy and the problem with this became evident when political ideology and the practice of psychopathology could no longer be divorced. Even most psychologists from the USSR Academy of Sciences affirm that “any unlawful act, precisely and simply by the virtue of its being unlawful, calls for psychiatric analysis.” The Case of Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud lived from 1856 – 1939. He was born in 1856 in Freiburg (now in Czechoslovakia) but at that time was part of the Austro- Hungarian Empire. One of eight children, Freud’s father was a wool merchant – lower middle class. When Sigmund was four years of age, the family moved first to Leipzig and then to Vienna, where he lived for most of his life. Freud’s father was 20 years older than his mother and was strict and authoritarian. Freud felt both fear and love toward him. His mother was protective and loving, and he felt a passionate attachment to her. The only professions open to a Viennese Jew in the 1870s were Law and Medicine – he chose medicine. He took eight years (more than usual) to complete the medical curriculum primarily because of his habit of taking more and different classes than were necessary. The intellectual climate of the 18th and 19th centuries included the doctrine of hedonism which promotes striving to gain pleasure and avoid pain. The sexual climate of Vienna in the late 19th Century was one of a sexually permissive and open society. Interest in sexual matters was visible in daily life and the scientific literature with a large number of studies published on sexual pathologies, infantile sexuality, and the effects on mental health of suppression of sexual impulses. Charles Darwin deeply influenced Freud. This is another proof that scientists are products of the times they are born in. if Freud were born earlier than Darwin, the latter would never have impacted Freud so much, and would have totally altered Freud’s scientific inclinations. Freud was deeply interested in Darwin’s work and it had influenced his decision to study medicine. Darwin discussed issues that would become central to Freud’s theory – unconscious mental processes and conflicts, the significance of dreams, the hidden symbolism of bizarre behaviours, and the importance of sexual excitation. Freud wrote in 1938 “The individual perishes from his internal conflicts, the species [perishes] in its struggle with the external world to which it is no longer adapted.” The word libido was already in use. It was because of this interest that Freud’s work received such attention. Even the concept of catharsis, the relief of distress through expression of an emotional experience, was a popular topic of the time. Conclusion Scientists and people in general are products of what society shape them to be. They discover the context of learning depending on the meanings society constructed for objects; they formulate their own world view based on how they were raised to see the world. For scientists, their predisposition to a certain field is also a product of their cultural heritage, their environmental influences, even the era on which they happened to live in. In the case of Sigmund Freud, he had zeitgeist influence from the German-Austrian partiality to psychoanalysis and the prevailing intellectual and sexual climate in Vienna. He was also influenced by Darwin, whose theory could be viewed as an ortgeist influence, as his work greatly affected the studies and research of other scientists, not only Freud. References Azuma, Hiroshi & Imada, Hiroshi (1994) Origins and development of psychology in Japan: the interaction between western science and the Japanese cultural heritage. International Journal of Psychology, 1464-066X, Vol. 29 – 6, 707-715. Faraone, Stephen. (1982) Psychiatry and political repression in the Soviet Union. American Psychologist. Vol 37(10), 1105-1112. Gould, Stephen Jay (1988) The case of the creeping fox terrier clone. The Principal Elements of the Nature of Science: Dispelling the Myths, Volume 5, 53-70 Jones, E. & Trilling, L. (1961). The life and work of Sigmund Freud, Basic Books. Lomov, B. F. (1982) Soviet Psychology. Its Historical origins and Contemporary Status. American Psychologist, 37,5. Matthews, MR. (1994) Science teaching: The role of history and philosophy of science. Routledge. Palincsar, Sullivan (1998) Social constructivist perspectives on teaching and learning. Annual Review of Psychology Vol. 49: 345-375 Read More

For what we ‘know’ in the scientific sense about the physical world and, indeed, what we mean by ‘knowledge’, is a function of the means by which we come by knowledge.” The scientific method is testimony to this statement. Among the many assumptions of sciences are the following: a) it is cumulative and unified; b) it has some underlying logic implicit in all scientific evaluations that are value-free; c) it has a sharp demarcation from other belief systems; d) observation is a neutral basis for testing theories; and e) its terms have precise and fixed meanings.

It Begins with the Learning Environment How we think and act are heavily if not completely influenced by the environment during our formative years. An appropriate analogy here would be the simile of the fox terrier clone. Gould (1988) writes: “When Asta the fox terrier exhumed the body of the Thin Man, his delightfully tipsy detective master, Nick Charles, exclaimed, ‘You’re not a terrier, you’re a police dog.’ …Fox terriers were bred ‘to dig out foxes from their burrows, when a fox had to earth during a traditional British hunt.

’ Apparently, generations of fox-hunting gentlemen selected fox terriers not only for their functional role in the hunt but also under a breeder’s artifice to make them look as much like horses as possible.” Indeed, how we turn out as persons and, ultimately, as professionals, all boils down to how are shaped by various influences in our environment. And in the context of scientists, perhaps none is as longstanding and as important as education. (Paul) underscores how crucial education is by citing disastrous consequences of flawed American science textbooks.

He explains that increasing commercialization of textbooks has engendered virtual cloning of contents. It doesn’t encourage improvement or improvement. The case of biology textbooks published between 1978 and 1984, most still used Burt’s fabricated data and experiment on heredity using identical twins. Gould (1988) writes: “Today’s textbooks are thicker, slicker, more elaborate, and more expensive than they used to be. They are also more alike. Indeed, many are virtual clones, both stylistic and substantive, of a market leader.

” A Matter of Social Construction Social constructivism, as a learning theory, emphasizes the importance of the background and culture of the learner. It encourages the student to draw his own conclusions / versions of the truth, influenced by his or her background, culture or embedded worldview. Palincsar (1998) writes: “Historical developments and symbol systems, such as language, logic, and mathematical systems, are inherited by the learner as a member of a particular culture and these are learned throughout the learner's life.

This also stresses the importance of the nature of the learner's social interaction with knowledgeable members of the society. Without the social interaction with other more knowledgeable people, it is impossible to acquire social meaning of important symbol systems and learn how to utilize them. Young children develop their thinking abilities by interacting with other children, adults and the physical world. From the social constructivist viewpoint, it is thus important to take into account the background and culture of the learner throughout the learning process, as this background also helps to shape the knowledge and truth that the learner creates, discovers and attains in the learning process.

” Birth and Development of Psychology in Japan Psychology in Japan was born in the latter half of the 19th century after much importation of knowledge from foreigners. It can be divided into three phases, beginning with the introduction of American mental philosophy in Japan, followed by British empiricism and evolutionary thought, and solidified by the entrance of German experimental psychology in the country (Azumi & Imada, 1994). Western influence on Japanese psychology is so strong that many other Japanese words were coined to make sense of Western knowledge.

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