Topic I. Role of Science in a Democracy
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CLASS ELEMENTS
- Suggested Readings & Reading Questions
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- Reading Question: What are the major limitations of democracy? What are its affordances (that is, what functions or goals can it serve well)?
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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- Reading Question: What is the “fundamental philosophical puzzle” that faced scientists trying to calibrate thermometers in the eighteenth century? Explain the key point in your own words.
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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- Reading Questions: Do you think you "see" through an ordinary microscope? What about an electron microscope? Does using the word "see" imply that what you see is what is really there?
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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- No Reading
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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- No readings
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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- Homework
- Kahneman and Tversky (1974) end their paper on heuristics and biases with the words: “A better understanding of these heuristics and of the biases to which they lead could improve judgments and decisions in situations of uncertainty.” Give an example of a real-world situation in which one of the heuristics they discuss could bias judgments, and suggest a strategy for improving judgments. In other words, how might you get people to avoid using the heuristic as a basis for their judgment, and instead rely on a better alternative?
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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- Homework Questions
- Explain in your own words what Gould means by ‘biological determinism’ (p. 52). How does it relate to what he calls ‘ranking’ (p. 56)? Briefly set out one argument for OR against biological determinism.
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CLASS ELEMENTS
- Suggested Readings & Reading Questions
- Case Studies (Possible Examples of Pathological Science):
- Wolfe-Simon et al., 2011, "A bacterium that can grow by using arsenic instead of phosphorus."
- Chaplin, 2007, "The Memory of Water."
- Adam et al., "Measurement of the neutrino velocity with the OPERA detectorin the CNGS beam."
- Homework
- Please read the article assigned to you based on your seating chart group (the seating chart for Week 9 is posted on the syllabus). These articles (from a variety of sciences) may be challenging to understand, but we encourage you to try to understand the main ideas from the articles and be prepared to discuss them in class on Wednesday. Please answer the following question for your homework: Based on Langmuir's criteria, do you think that the study conducted in the article you read would qualify as pathological science? In addition to a paragraph explanation summary of your thoughts, make sure to fill out and turn in the “Langmuir Scoresheet” as part of your assignment. [link]
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CLASS ELEMENTS
- Suggested Readings & Reading Questions
- A New Look at Selective Exposure Effects by Fischer & Greitemeyer
- Reading Question: Read the first two pages of the Fischer and Greitemeyer article. The reading discusses the selective-exposure effect, which is one instance of a broader phenomenon known as "confirmation bias." Provide an example of a selective exposure effect in real life (personal anecdote, news story, scientific study, etc.). Explain how the scenario you chose is an example of this type of bias, and how it might lead to suboptimal decision-making.
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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- We are hiding this reading because we want students to do their demos truthfully. But if you want it anyways...Hide Results to Seek Truth, Saul Perlmutter and Rob MacCoun
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CLASS ELEMENTS
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CLASS ELEMENTS
- Suggested Readings & Reading Questions
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CLASS ELEMENTS
- Suggested Readings & Reading Questions
- Gene Drive briefing materials: [https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_EA4iR4N6XTR6yFbAY4MybDNfblAPF0w/view?usp=sharing]
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CLASS ELEMENTS
- Suggested Readings & Reading Questions
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CLASS ELEMENTS
- Suggested Readings & Reading Questions