Sociology of Science | The Socjournal

The concept of evolution continues to be controversial hot button. Did God create the universe or it is simply random happenstance? Evidence suggests that the universe has been around and changing for billions of years, but does that mean it is all random and meaningless? Maybe. But then my dog is the product of the creative hand of the human breeder, and modern technology is bringing unprecedented change and agency is obvious in both. One thing is for sure. Random evolution may have gotten us here, but human agency is what will make or break the future of this species.

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) is considered to be one of the world’s first and greatest scientists. What made Galileo unique was his ability to observe carefully, develop original theories, and test his ideas systematically. Thus, Galileo embraced the doctrine of good …

(An Excerpt from Good Science) It’s easy to beat up on postmodernists these days. Ever since the Sokal Hoax, the postmodernists’ Waterloo, the science wars have been a rout. Once it became clear that postmodernism was incapable of distinguishing between …

Visualization and imagination create the world. Or, as Dr. Tim says, reality starts with fantasy. Or, as I like to say, as above in consciousness, so below in matter. No where is this more clear than in the area of science fiction where reality consistently lags behind fantasy only by a half century or so.

On April 10, 2012, Governor Bill Haslam allowed Tennessee’s House Bill 368,* the New Monkey Bill, to become law without his signature. Leaving aside the Governor’s contemptibly week-kneed political stance, HB 368 has once again propelled the state of Tennessee into the …

Epistemology = How do we know the world that we know? Ontology = What is the nature of the world that we know? In this short article Dr. Tim argues not only that the world is a materialist presence that exists independent of our observation (his ontological statement), but that this materialist presence can be known basically through a process of empirical trial and error. The empirical trial and error is necessary because the human is fallible, given to delusion, and open to manipulation and contrivance. That much is true, we are too easy to fool it seems. But is that in our nature, or is it a function of our flawed socialization process? That’s the rub. Personally, I think socialization but then hey, this a Sociology journal and I’m a sociologist, so maybe I’m biased (or maybe, it is the Truth).

Science, science, science. Has there ever been a thing more wondrous and beautiful, terrible and ugly, than science? From acetylsalicylic acid to atom bombs, Prozac to Pontiac, it is impossible to deny that science is at least partially responsible. So find out more about it, and teach your students well. Make Good Science a textbook in your methods, theory, or even introductory class.

Greetings today children, and welcome to my neighborhood. Our word of the day today is “hypocrite.” Can you say that? “Hypocrite? I thought you could, and so can Dr. Mcgettigan. Though he is saying it in a far nicer way, he is saying it just the same. We are a nation of contradictions, with a morality based on profit and domination, and a sensibility that dictates the end justifies the means. Dose up with those performance enhancing drugs sir ’cause not even your health and well-being takes precedence over the need to dominate another living being.

Big bucks in buff bods and super-powers. Collectively we have a fantasy, a fetish perhaps, with notions of super power and hidden divinity. From the X-men to Superman to The Hulk, perhaps there is something more than the the mere dust and detritus of human existence. As Bruce Cockburn once sang, “Behind the pain fear, etched on the faces, something is shining like gold, but better…” As Dr. Tim says, let fantasy lead where science fears to tread.

So what is intelligence? What is IQ? What makes one person smarter, and thus more deserving of reward, then another. Well, as Tim points out, and according to many psychologists its a magic number. Like a gypsy’s gaze into the crystal ball, this number, derived with suitably esoteric and “unbiased” (not!) scientific instrumentation, reveals all. Or does it? And, as Tim asks, can it? Can a simple number like 42 really reveal all the secrets of the human experience, or is just (as Douglas Adams has suggested) a big joke.

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