TEACHING SCIENCE THAT MATTERS: REFRAMING THE QUESTION IN SCIENCE

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TEACHING SCIENCE THAT MATTERS REFRAMING THE
QUESTION IN SCIENCE
DON MIKULECKY PROFESSOR EMERITUS OF PHYSIOLOGY
AND SENIOR FELLOW IN THE CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF
BIOLOGICAL COMPLEXITY-VCU http//www.people.vcu.ed
u/mikuleck/
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Issues that may reflect back on the way science
is being taught

• Global warming and climate change
• Evolution vs. creation (Intelligent Design)
• Determining when something is alive

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Global warming and climate change

• Why have we waited until it is so late to
  acknowledge this as a scientific problem?
• What is it about science that allows situations
  like this?
• Has it to do with the way science has been framed
  and taught?
• Can we do better?
• We must!

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Evolution vs. creation (Intelligent) Design

• Why is this controversy going on?
• Has it to do with the way science has been framed
  and taught?
• Can we get beyond it?
• We must!

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WHAT IS FRAMING THE QUESTION?

• Based on the work of George Lakoff
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Frames are the mental structures that shape the
  way we see the world
• Facts, data, models, etc. only have meaning in a
  context
• Leads us to a scientific application of framing
  Rosens theory of complexity

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Framing the question

• Dont think of an elephant
• Impossibility of avoiding the frame
• In science the dominant frame is reductionism and
  the associated mechanical thinking
• The dominant modern manifestations include
  molecular biology and nonlinear dynamics
• We have lost the distinction between science and
  technology

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An Example of Reframing the question to get an
answer The work of Robert Rosen

• How do we determine when something is alive?
• What is life? (Schrödinger's ill posed question)
• Why is an organism different from a machine?
  Rosens well posed question that can be answered
  Organisms are closed to efficient cause.

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THE MODELING RELATION A MODEL OF HOW WE MAKE
MODELS, A SCIENCE OF FRAMING
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WE HAVE A USEFUL MODEL WHEN
AND
ARE SATISFACTORY WAYS OF UNDERSTANDING THE
CHANGE IN THE WORLD OUT THERE
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THE MODELING RELATION A MODEL OF HOW WE MAKE
MODELS
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WHAT TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DID TO FRAME THE
MODELING RELATION IT GAVE US A UNIVERSAL MODEL
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WHY WHAT TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DID TO THE
MODELING RELATION MADE THE PRESENT SITUATION
INEVITABLE

• WE FORGOT THAT THERE WAS AN ENCODING AND DECODING
• WE WERE GIVEN A UNIVERSAL MODEL
• ALL OF SCIENCE WAS FRAMED IN TERMS OF THE
  UNIVERSAL MODEL AND THE SO CALLED SCIENTIFIC
  METHOD

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WHY WHAT TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DID TO THE
MODELING RELATION MADE THE PRESENT SITUATION
INEVITABLE IT FRAMED THE QUESTION

• BUT THE REAL WORLD REQUIRES MORE THAN ONE
  FORMAL SYSTEM TO MODEL IT (THERE IS NO
  UNIVERSAL MODEL)
• THEREFORE WE HAVE BEEN TEACHING OUR SCIENCE IN A
  BOX
• THAT BOX HAS HAMPERED SCIENCE AND CAUSED IT TO BE
  IMPOTENT IN DEALING WITH CONTROVERSIES OF THE
  TYPE MENTIONED EARLIER

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WHY WHAT TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DID TO THE
MODELING RELATION MADE THE PRESENT SITUATION
INEVITABLE

• WE ARE TOO AFRAID OF BELIEFS (SCEPTICISM IS
  IN)
• WE DEVELOPED THE MYTH OF OBJECTIVITY
• WE FRAMED THE QUESTION SO AS TO PROHIBIT
  RECOGNIZING THAT SCIENCE IS A BELIEF STRUCTURE
• WE ALLOWED NON-SCIENTIFIC OR PSEUDO SCIENTIFIC
  ARGUMENTS TO USE THESE SELF INFLICTED WEAKNESS

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WHY IS OBJECTIVITY A MYTH? (OR WHY IS SCIENCE
A BELIEF STRUCTURE)

• THE FORMAL SYSTEM DOES NOT AND CAN NOT TELL US
  HOW TO ENCODE AND DECODE. (MODELING IS AN ART!)
• THE FORMAL SYSTEM DOES NOT AND CAN NOT TELL US
  WHEN THE MODEL WORKS, THAT IS A JUDGEMENT CALL
  EVEN IF OTHER FORMALISMS ARE ENLISTED TO HELP
  (FOR EXAMPLE STATISTICS)
• MODELS EXIST IN A CONTEXT A FRAME
• RECOGNIZING THESE ATTRIBUTES DO NOT HURT THEY
  ENABLE

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WHAT ARE SOME OF THE THINGS THAT MAKE COMPLEXITY
THEORY NECESSARY? (WHAT HAS TRADITIONAL
SCIENCE FAILED TO EXPLAIN?)

• WHY IS THE WHOLE MORE THAN THE SOME OF THE PARTS?
  WHAT ARE THE PHILOSOPHICAL IMPLICATIONS OF THIS?
• SELF-REFERENCE AND CIRCULARITY
• THE LIFE/ORGANISM PROBLEM
• THE MIND/BODY PROBLEM
• THE NATURE OF THE EARTH SYSTEM
• THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN DIRECT AND COMPLEX
  CAUSALITY (CREATION VS EVOLUTION)
• THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORGANISMS AND MACHINES

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Reductionism has framed complexity theory

• Rather than change methods we have the changed
  names for what we do
• The consequences are significant
• It is impossible for you to believe what is being
  taught in this lecture and to then simply add it
  to your repertoire
• The reason is that in order to see the world in a
  new way you have to step out of the traditional
  frame and into a new one. Once done, you can
  never go back. The ability to reframe a question
  is the basis for change and broadening of ideas.

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WHAT IS COMPLEXITY?

• TOO MANY DEFINITIONS, SOME CONFLICTING
• OFTEN INTERCHANGED WITH COMPLICATED
• HAS A REAL MEANING BUT AFTER THE QUESTION IS
  REFRAMED
• THAT MEANING ITSELF IS COMPLEX(THIS IS
  SELF-REFERENTIAL HOW CAN WE DEFINE COMPLEX
  USING COMPLEX?)

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ROSENS CONCEPT FOR COMPLEXITY A NEW FRAME

• Complexity is the property of a real world
  system that is manifest in the inability of any
  one formalism being adequate to capture all its
  properties. It requires that we find distinctly
  different ways of interacting with systems.
  Distinctly different in
• the sense that when we make successful
  models, the formal systems needed to describe
  each distinct aspect are NOT
• derivable from each other

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The Mexican sierra fish has "XVII-15-IX" spines
in the dorsal fin. These can easily be counted
... We could, if we wished, describe the sierra
thus "D. XVII-15-IX A. II-15-IX," but we could
see the fish alive and swimming, feel it plunge
against the lines, drag it threshing over the
rail, and even finally eat it. And there is no
reason why either approach should be inaccurate.
Spine-count description need
not suffer because another approach is also used.
Perhaps, out of the two approaches we thought
there might emerge a picture more complete and
even more accurate that either alone could
produce. -- John Steinbeck,
novelist, with Edward Ricketts, marine biologist
(1941)
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COMPLEX SYSTEMS VS SIMPLE MECHANISMS

• COMPLEX
• NO LARGEST MODEL
• WHOLE MORE THAN SUM OF PARTS
• CAUSAL RELATIONS RICH AND INTERTWINED
• GENERIC
• ANALYTIC ? SYNTHETIC
• NON-FRAGMENTABLE
• NON-COMPUTABLE
• REAL WORLD

• SIMPLE
• LARGEST MODEL
• WHOLE IS SUM OF PARTS
• CAUSAL RELATIONS DISTINCT
• N0N-GENERIC
• ANALYTIC SYNTHETIC
• FRAGMENTABLE
• COMPUTABLE
• FORMAL SYSTEM

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WHY WHAT TRADITIONAL SCIENCE DID TO THE
QUESTION MADE THE PRESENT SITUATION INEVITABLE

• THE MACHINE METAPHOR TELLS US TO ASK HOW?
• REAL WORLD COMPLEXITY TELLS US TO ASK WHY?

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THE FOUR BECAUSES WHY A HOUSE?

• MATERIAL THE STUFF ITS MADE OF
• EFFICIENT IT NEEDED A BUILDER
• FORMAL THERE WAS A BLUEPRINT
• FINAL IT HAS A PURPOSE

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WHY IS THE WHOLE MORE THAN THE SOME OF THE PARTS?

• BECAUSE REDUCING A REAL SYSTEM TO ATOMS AND
  MOLECULES LOOSES IMPORTANT THINGS THAT MAKE THE
  SYSTEM WHAT IT IS
• BECAUSE THERE IS MORE TO REALITY THAN JUST ATOMS
  AND MOLECULES (ORGANIZATION, PROCESS, QUALITIES,
  ETC.)

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SELF-REFERENCE AND CIRCULARITY

• THE LAWS OF NATURE THAT TRADITIONAL SCIENCE
  TEACHES ARE ARTIFACTS OF A LIMITED MODEL
• THE REAL RULES OF THE GAME ARE CONTEXT
  DEPENDENT AND EVER CHANGING- THEY MAKE THE
  CONTEXT AND THE CONTEXT MAKES THEM
  (SELF-REFERENCE)

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EXAMPLE THE LIFE/ORGANISM PROBLEM

• LIFE IS CONSISTENT WITH THE LAWS OF PHYSICS
• PHYSICS DOES NOT PREDICT LIFE
• LIVING CELLS COME FROM OTHER LIVING CELLS
• AN ORGANISM MUST INVOLVE CLOSED LOOPS OF
  CAUSALITY
• LIFE DOES INVOLVE PURPOSE
• THE EARTH SYSTEM IS A COMPLEX RELATIONSHIP
  BETWEEN THE BIOSPHERE AND OTHER SYSTEMS IT TOO
  IS AN ORGANISM OF A SPECIAL KIND!

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EXAMPLE THE MIND/BODY PROBLEM

• HOW CAN THE MIND MODEL ITSELF?
• AM I CONSCIOUS?
• HOW DOES THE BRAIN PRODUCE CONSCIOUSNESS, SELF
  AWARENESS, ETC.?

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CONCLUSIONS

• THE REAL WORLD IS COMPLEX
• THE WORLD OF SIMPLE MECHANISMS IS A SURROGATE
  WORLD CREATED BY TRADITIONAL SCIENCE
• WE ARE AT A CROSSROADS A NEW WORLDVIEW IS NEEDED
• THERE WILL ALWAYS BE RISK ASSOCIATED WITH
  ATTEMPTS TO PROGRESS
• WE MUST REFRAME OUR CONCEPTS ABOUT SCIENCE IN
  ORDER TO GO FORWARD

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POST SCRIPT

• WE LIVE IN A WORLD DOMINATED BY COMPUTERS
• MOST COMPLEXIFIERS BELIEVE THAT COMPLEXITY IS
  SOMETHING WE CAN DEAL WITH ON THE COMPUTER
• THIS NOTION OF COMPLEXITY FOCUSES ON THE
  MECHANICAL ASPECTS OF THE REAL WORLD
• WHAT MAKES THE REAL WORLD COMPLEX IS ITS
  NON-COMPUTABILITY
• THIS IS WHY THE CONTROVERSIES WE ARE FACING HAVE
  NOT BEEN RESOLVED