Topic I. Role of Science in a Democracy
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Context for this filter:
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LEARNING GOALS
- B. CONCEPT ACQUISITION
- Facts vs. Values
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LEARNING GOALS
- B. CONCEPT ACQUISITION
- Value: In the philosophical and psychology of judgment and decison-making literature, we use the term "value" to refer to all values, goals, preferences, fears, etc., not only high, principled values (as often in colloquial speech).
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EXAMPLES
- Exemplary Quotes
- “But the efficacy of wearing a bicycle helmet is a simple factual question that we should be able to get an answer for.”
- “It was embarrassing to discover how often my choice in the grocery store was determined by something irrelevant to the actual contents of the item.”
- Cautionary Quotes: Mistakes, Misconceptions, & Misunderstandings
- Commonest difficulty is in distinguishing facts and values in fraught real-world contexts, when not reminded to do so. E.g., students' deference to scientists for questions is predicted by the ideological fraughtness of the topic, not whether it is a question of fact or value.
- “What could science possibly have to tell us about love!”
- "Science can't tell us anything about happiness, because people don't agree about what makes us happy, anyway."
LEARNING GOALS
- A. ATTITUDES
- Recognize the need to distinguish facts from values in political and everyday decision-making
- B. CONCEPT ACQUISITION
- Facts vs. Values
- a. Facts: Objectively true claims about reality. Everything that is the case. What is, descriptively, including spatial relations, causal relations, attributes of objects, etc.
- b. Values: What is of value, important, of worth. Oughts, shoulds, etcs.
- C. CONCEPT APPLICATION
- Facts vs. Values
- a. Distinguish between facts and values in public debates and everyday decision-making.
- b. Identify ways in which facts and values are intertwined in public debates and everyday decision-making.
- c. Recognize when values determine which facts are viewed as relevant.
- d. Use distinction between facts and values to identify appropriate source(s) of authority in decision-making.
- Justify when it is appropriate for everyone to have a vote.
- Justify when it is appropriate for science to have a role in democratic decision-making and explain what that role should be.
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- LEARNING GOALS
- C. CONCEPT APPLICATION
- Identify relevant questions of fact for which experts can be consulted. .C
- ASSESSMENTS
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LEARNING GOALS
- C. CONCEPT APPLICATION
- Plan deliberative polls, including:
- a. Identifying relevant stakeholders.
- b. Identifying relevant experts.
- c. Identifying important types of factual information & questions.
- d. Proposing appropriate questions to ask in the polls.