Science Meets Real Life - Term Paper Example

Science Meets Real Life Scenario My family decided to go on a vacation to an old family friend’s place, about 200 kilometers away from our house but on the previous day evening, we found out that our car won’t start. `Here I am trying to resolve the problem through scientific method. Philosophically speaking, the application of scientific method in problem-solving is a response by humans to the unpredictability of life, a faculty which comes alive through the skills and resources of mind such as reason, experience and collective memories. If one has to have a more precise description on what is the sense and purpose of scientific method, It can be articulated as the application of logic and experimentation to a hypothesis, or even a probability, keeping in view the social and historical contexts involved (Gower, 2012, p.15-17). In the first scenario, while discussing the case of a car that won’t start, all these features of scientific method can be applied in a step by step manner. The application of scientific method here has to begin with two questions, 1) why is the car not starting, and 2) How can the car be made functional again? The first question necessarily has called for some background research and only after that one can go about “proposing explanations” (Carey, 2011, p.4). The most probable cause for the situation at hand could have been the accident that had happened two days back, with the sprinkler system used to water the lawn near to which the car was parked. The sprinkler system had malfunctioned and in the morning, people woke up to see the car standing in a big and deep pool of water. As the land was low-lying at the parking area, the water had risen to a level where it immersed the wheels of the car completely and was oozing inside through the gaps of the window glasses. So in all probability, one could hypothesize, water entered the engine of the car and caused a short circuit. To make sure this hypothesis was true, it was necessary to check the engine. As Carey (2011) has suggested, observing carefully to understand the situation in all its totality was necessary (p.3). But surprisingly, the engine turned out to be perfectly dry. It was clear that water had not entered it at all. At the observation stage itself, it was getting proven that the hypothesis was not true. Hence the hypothesis needed to be revisited and thought over. The second probability was that the engine had gone just cold and could get started by giving it an impetus to start by pushing the car a little. This was based on the new hypothesis that the problem was not a serious one as envisaged in the first hypothesis, but a minor one. This new hypothesis required some experimenting, by way of pushing the car to trigger-start it. Experimentation could be a vital part of scientific method as “we carry out an experiment designed to determine whether the predicted result actually will occur under these circumstances” (Carey, 2011, p.4). One person was required to sit in the driver seat and keep on trying to start the engine. Another 3 adult persons in the family had to be there to push the vehicle. This was the design of this simple experiment that had to be carried out to resolve the problem. Only if the car could get started, the experiment could be considered as successful and the hypothesis true. When the car was pushed in the same way the experiment was designed for the specific purpose, the car engine started showing signs of ignition. This had to be considered as a partial result proving that the hypothesis could be partially true. Still the car was not getting started. The conclusion that could be drawn was, enough speed and momentum was not there in the pushing as it was required to quick start the engine, overcoming the inertia imparted to it by the cold it caught. This necessitated the experiment to be redesigned a little. Help had to be sought from two more people, which materialized in the form of two neighbors soon. The experiment was becoming “an iterative process enabling us to identify a hierarchy of causes,” as pointed out by Gower (2012, p.114). This time the car was pushed by 5 people and as in the earlier process it had reached a steep declining road, decision was made that this was the perfect venue for the redesigned experiment. One person sat in the driver seat as before trying to ignite the engine while the other five pushed the car with all their might. The car gained considerable momentum as it started to ride the steep decline in the road. In a few seconds, the car got started. The result thus gained helped resolving the problem and proved that the second hypothesis was true. The conclusion that could be arrived at was the car engine had become inert owing to the car standing in wheel-deep cold water for an entire night. It could also be inferred that there was no major problem to the engine of the car as was suggested by the first hypothesis. The scientific method adopted to resolve this daily life problem-solving scenario was effective and really helped resolve the problem. Scenario 2 I had a cousin who suddenly started showing a behavioral change and became very arrogant and abusive to all who were near and dear to her. She was 19 years old. We tried taking her to a doctor but she was not willing for such a consultation. We also tried talking her out of her condition but she in no way could be persuaded to sit with a friend or family member and open up her mind. The entire situation was going out of hand as had lost all her friends to her temperament. Family members also began to avoid her. It was at this juncture that I thought of adopting scientific method to resolve whatever the problem that was ailing her. The first thing that could be done was to understand the root cause of the problem, or in other words, do some background research. By making some secret inquiries in her college and the hostel in which she was staying, by talking to people who where her friends and acquaintances, what came out was, she was of late avoiding all of them. Further inquiries revealed, she was mentioning death frequently and was being very philosophical in her last conversations with her friends. She was telling them incessantly about the futility of existence and all the things one wants to do and leaves undone when one dies. One previously close friend even mentioned she was sounding as if she believed she was going to die. Based on this background research, a conclusion was made that she had some ailment or she feared she had. This was the hypothesis that could be arrived at from whatever background information gathered so far. As Harris (2014) had pointed out, a “hypothesis must be suggested by the facts” and the facts here were suggesting she was afraid death was near. Here, the hypothesis was arrived at partially based on facts unearthed by background research and partially from guesses and intuition, which also could be an assistive tool in proposing a hypothesis, given a few solid facts lead them (Harris, 2014, p.80). Now the hypothesis had to be tested to know if it was true. As Carey (2011) rightly stated, “experiments are not…easy to design and carry out,” especially in daily life scenarios when lives and relationships at stake (p.58). A friend of my cousin was assigned to talk to her in the vein that she was also fed up with life and was on the verge of suicide. This experiment was designed with the expectation that when my cousin is faced with another human being who was going through a similar situation, she would share her experience with that person. It was decided among friends and family members that only this friend would ever try to build a bonding with my cousin while all others kept their distance. This was necessary because “a well-designed experiment” had to control all the elements other than the one under investigation, or these external elements could lead to “a false conformation or rejection of the claim being tested” (Carey, 2011, p.59). The friend presented her story to my cousin, a story which was partially true as well because, that girl herself had gone through a lot in her personal life, like losing her parents at an early age and going through serious poverty and loneliness. The experiment eventually became a success and my cousin told her friend she was diagnosed as HIV positive. The friend could convince her, in the given medical scenario, death was not inevitable for an HIV patient. As they shared their fears and hopes, their friendship grew and my cousin agreed to start medication and also meet her family counselor. Along with that, she once again began to be friendly and loving to her friends and family members. These results were proof to both the hypotheses that she had an ailment and also that she could open her mind up to someone who had gone through similar difficulties. The experiment in this daily life problem solving scenario became a success only through the step by step scientific method adopted. References Carey, S. (2011). A beginner’s guide to scientific method. Boston: Cengage Learning. Gower, B. (2012). Scientific method: An historical and philosophical introduction. London: Routledge. Harry, E.E. (2014). Hypothesis and perception: The roots of scientific method. London: Routledge. Read More