4 replies to this topic

[YOLF]

I frequently get new members who have little experience but want to help us. I'd like to develop a beginners reading list for them of scientific studies and proposals. 

 

Also, it would be great to have some resources that explain what real science is like and what it takes to make science happen. There seems to be an educational disconnect between what people expect science to be and what it is. I want to bridge that gap.

Edited by cryonicsculture, 23 June 2014 - 04:14 AM.

[John Schloendorn]

A lot of the confusion seems to be about affection for the results of science, vs. understanding the process of getting there.  

 

I would say the process is first and foremost a set of cognitive tricks that you can use, with the aim to get rid of your own ideas about what the world is like, such that you become free to see what the world really is like.  All the stuff I know that really explains it well is between ancient and old.  Writings by Aristotle, Archimedes and their much later-born students Descartes, Voltaire, Pascal and (on some days not others) Kant all offer great starting points.  

[YOLF]

Can you suggest some specific things written by them?

 

I think that a list of easy to understand research papers and proposals that explain what's being done and some things that explain the process that a researcher undertakes to develop, conduct, and record a study.

 

The philosophers are good, but it's abstract. I think alot of people might not have an interest in learning from a philosopher, but might learn from a series of study papers that go from easy to hard.

[John Schloendorn]

Yeah there are two things -- first there's cramming the knowledge.  That's what you refer to as "easy to hard".  Bruce Alberts molecular biology of the cell.  That's the easy place to start.  Then, into research papers.  That's the hard end. 

 

The other issue is using the scientific method (philosophy) -- that's not hard at all.  It's a choice.  Maybe just start with the wikipedia article on it.  It has all those references too. 

[onz]

Trick or Treatment is a great book that explains how to assess the quality of studies and clinical trials. It's really helpful in understanding what the scientific method is and how it applies to everyday life, and how it is often misused or misrepresented.

 

Cost like 10 dollars on google play book store, makes for some nice bedtime reading

 

http://www.scienceba...k-or-treatment/