The Scientific Method of Enquiry

Critical thinking is diminishing in modern times when YouTube videos and Tic Toc short outbursts reduce our attention span. Young people, who were forced to study home during the pandemic, couldn’t develop the ability to debate, learn useful study techniques, acquire information and retain it. Even now they ask Chat GPT to write their essays or to do research. Are we, as a human species getting dumber?

Two thousand years ago only about 3% of the people in the greater Roman empire could read, but not necessarily write more than their name. At the beginning of the 20th century it only rose to 20%. Now however the worldwide literacy rate is over 86%! (83% in adult and 91% in children population.) It is natural to send children to school and have them learn the  three Rs, Reading wRiting and aRithmetics.  So the next step would be to teach how to retain information and how to think critically.

Why did I start writing about literacy when my subject is the scientific method? The answer is easy: we need good reading comprehension, critical thinking and the ability to retain the information we learned to create our opinions, to defend our point of view or humbly change our minds if necessary. This is what science does too. It is not written in stone, when new developments come up, when experiments show different results, the previous prevailing view can and should be modified or even discarded.

It is very useful in everyday life to use the scientific method even though we are not scientists. When we strive for clarity and knowledge, it is essential to weed out misinformation, anecdotal evidence, or heresay or even gossip. Look for real evidence.

In the 21st century the sources of information became unreliable as most people get their news on social media. Schools have not prepared us for this era. They didn’t show us the difference between reliable facts or the right way we could acquire knowledge that will stand the test of time. So as that was said, we couldn’t put any of it into practice.

So when you hear or read things like “I heard”, “My mom’s friend told me” (insert anybody in there), “It is said”, “Everybody knows” etc. ask for specific examples, exact sources, researched numbers and reliable data.

Others might be satisfied with just hearing the latest, you also want to make sure they come from sources you can trust. You want to be self assured, self confident so whatever passes your mouth will be correct and factual and you can defend your position.

It is especially true when advertisers want to sell you something, politicians try to persuade you and get your support, or when new intelligence comes out by the minute, and everybody is eager to give you unsolicited or solicited advise.

Be vary and be aware! Learn to investigate and inquire knowledge properly!

So here is how to do it in your everyday life: you make an observation and you ask a specific question. You research the problem, (and not on Facebook!) you can google it or ask Chat GPT and critically review the answers. When you are satisfied, you can come up with your hypotheses, your answer to the question, but you don’t stop there! You cannot make a conviction either way just yet! You now test your hypotheses and experiment. Basically you are testing it from different points of view and different situations. Be careful not to fall into confirmation biases where you only test it where it would confirm your opinions. Unfortunately social media, their algorithms are geared to show you information that you likely agree with and of course through your friends and groups you only have connections with likeminded people.

So please do not be afraid of finding contradicting opinions so you can defend your position!

Now you can analyze all the data or information you collected, and only now you draw your own conclusions. Remember, at the beginning you just posed a question to be answered, and now you might be able to come up with a satisfying answer.

But if you cannot, please do not get discouraged, because now you can modify your question and start the process again!

Seems too much work? It is worth it when you will have knowledge, convictions and values that will stand the test of time!

Now you might ask: do I have to start from scratch and research everything to make sure I can internalize the answer?

Good news: You don’t have to. You can trust scientists and researchers to give you trusted data.

You can trust Newton with how forces affect motion, the law of thermodynamics for example. These are facts that are called laws. So if there was a car accident, better know your physics and find out the circumstances from reliable sources.

Other facts in science are called theories that means a scientific fact that is true and tested unless somebody can prove them wrong and comes up with a better idea.

A scientific theory, unlike the term used in everyday life, is a fact. We might use “ I theorize” meaning I am guessing and now I have to make sure, or “It’s only his theory” which means his idea about the subject. It is not at all true in science. You make sure you have all the information you need, probe it, test it and then you can start creating a theory.

Other example of words that causes confusion when used with its strict meaning opposed to everyday life is MYTH. A myth is stories that people used to believe was true but we don’t believe them anymore, just like the Greek mythology. If you use myth on the streets, it can mean it’s not the truth, a false belief or idea.

So please be careful with the words you use so they will mean exactly you intended to and will not cause confusion or misunderstandings.

A good example of using the scientific method, when you hear conspiracy theories. They have been around since the beginning of human history, but with social media they can be created and spread like wildfire, that you will never be able to put out because people like stories, they are intrigued and entertained by these suggestions so they will not be interested in searching for facts.

But you and I are different! We want to know the truth and we are not really interested in everyday fiction. Our time is too valuable to parrot the stories that are spreading.

So, we start with asking the question. Was there a moon landing? What shape of the Earth is? Who was really behind the 9/ 11 attack? Did Nero, the Roman emperor really committed suicide? Whenever something important happens, people will come up with ideas and stories to make it more interesting. Human creativity is boundless.

Then investigate. You cannot help but hear these conspiracy theories so you will ask, what is the evidence to support these suggestions? Usually there is no real evidence, only anecdotal, or made up attestations.

Usually it is easy enough to find reliable evidence against them. For example scientists or historians would have investigated these incidents before.

Nowadays we have plenty of documentation as well. Besides video recordings, there is audio, contemporary proof.

You might not trust politicians but there are professionals who can help you understand the situations, and reliable documentations.

I learned from Bart E. Ehrman who methodically sorted the proof if Jesus existed or not. I strongly recommend his books and lectures