Preview

“What Kinds of Explanations Do Scientists Offer and How Do Those Compare with Those Offered in Other Areas of Knowledge? What Are the Differences Between Theories and Myths, as Forms of Explanation?”

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1719 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
“What Kinds of Explanations Do Scientists Offer and How Do Those Compare with Those Offered in Other Areas of Knowledge? What Are the Differences Between Theories and Myths, as Forms of Explanation?”
“What kinds of explanations do scientists offer and how do those compare with those offered in other Areas of Knowledge? What are the differences between theories and myths, as forms of explanation?”
The kinds of explanations offered by scientists compare and contrast to those offered by myths. But what are explanations? An explanation is a description, clarification, or justification of any claim or event. People tend to frequently look to scientists for these explanations, a scientist as in someone who studies science and actively tries to find knowledge in any science including Physical or social sciences; however, for the purpose of this essay, I will mainly be focusing on physical sciences. In addition, according to the title, theories and myths are both forms of explanation. Theories are explanations of any aspect from the natural world and are accepted knowledge that is organized to figure out a specific set of phenomena, whereas myths are traditional, typically ancient stories dealing with supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serve as a fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural world or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society. But which is more reliable, and why? I believe that, usually, scientists offer explanations that are more logical and rational compared to those offered by other Areas of Knowledge, specifically History; however sometimes science has explanations that seem logical and yet, are not much better than those offered by History. Furthermore, I believe that theories are more hypothetical than myths and can offer more truth and are based on facts and ‘knowledge’.
Personally, as a student, I believe that scientific claims are more reliable than historic claims, this is due to the fact that in school, we were taught that Science is a very objective subject and involves no emotion what so ever. It felt right to me; science seemed to have theories and hypotheses that



Cited: "BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Nanjing Massacre Victims Named." BBC News - Home. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . "The Dragon Stone - Myths: Mythical Origins." The Dragon Stone - Dragons of Mythology and Fantasy. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . Green, Barry. Personal Interview. 25 March 2011. "Nanking Massacre: The Forgotten Holocaust." GoTRAIN -- Job Training in One Year or Less. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . "What Is String Theory ?" Web. 07 Apr. 2011. .

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Pm3110 Quiz 1

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages

    _____ 5. What do we call the best possible explanation that scientists can come up with for an observation or event.…

    • 1044 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Rape of Nanking is a book that has detailed accounts of the horrific events of 1937 in Nanking after the Japanese invaded and slaughtered, raped, mutilated, and tortured Chinese. Iris Chang refers to the Rape of Nanking by calling it the ‘forgotten Holocaust’ and draws a connection to the World War II victims. The Rape of Nanking isn’t discussed very much due to the survivors who feel greatly humiliated by the event and the Japanese try to hide this part of history. Chang tells the tales of not only the viewpoint of the Chinese, but also from the Japanese and Westerners perspective view as well. It is interesting to note that only those at Nanking have been documented which provides most of the information for this book. No one can quarrel…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    15. What is a theory? Can theories change? What has to happen to a scientific explanation for it to become a theory?…

    • 393 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The “Rape of Nanking” or the “Nanking Massacre” was a genocide that occurred from late 1937 to January 1938. Japanese forces, led by Iwame Matsui, invaded the Chinese city of Nanking, destroying it almost completely. The Japanese killed and raped at least tens of thousands of Chinese civilians, looting markets in the process. The soldiers were ordered by their commanders to attack any and all Chinese people, and the soldiers enthusiastically complied with…

    • 74 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “Science contributes moral as well as material blessings to the world. Its great moral contribution is objective, or the scientific point of view. The means doubting everything except facts; it means hewing to the facts, lets the chips fall where they may.” (163)…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    3.06 pre lab

    • 2910 Words
    • 12 Pages

    This review is neither a replica of the exam nor does it contain every concept in the module. It is always best practice to review all lessons and assessments. Resubmitting is a great way to review/learn and improve your grade. There are approximately 32 questions (about 3 are essays) on the regular exam; approximately 42 questions (about 5 are essays) on the honors exam. The number in parenthesis is the lesson. None of the honors lessons are in this review. The answer key is after the review. You will need a calculator and the periodic table of elements.…

    • 2910 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The late Iris Chang hoped that her work “THE RAPE OF NANKING” would lead to an official Japanese apology for the atrocities Japanese troops committed in Nanking in 1937. Chang’s well-intentioned attempt to secure a Japanese apology for the Nanking atrocities is meaningless because many of the perpetrators and victims are now dead. Thus, a Japanese apology would be an empty gesture that has no meaning. "We will probably never know exactly what news Hirohito received about Nanking as the massacre was happening," she writes, " but the record suggests that he was exceptionally pleased by it" (p. 179).…

    • 968 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Japanese Imperial Army attacked China’s capital city of Nanking on December of 1937, which is now referred to as the Rape of Nanking. During the Sino-Japanese war, the Japanese army went on brutal rampage march towards the city of Nanking, killing Chinese soldier’s by the thousands, families massacred, to included children, elderly and raping of women. The carnage continued once they arrived in Nanking, the massive raping of women, even pregnant women were not spare from the carnage, the city of Nanking, was covered in blood. 1 Foreigners played the role of heroes during the horrific killings of innocent people, often times intervening and risking their owns lives, as a witness recalls “Their one hope is that I, the 'foreign devil' will…

    • 190 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    The lack of understanding and authenticity behind the reasons on why or how things exist have led to the creations of myths such as the Greek, Romans, Scandinavians, and other people around the world who began to use their stories as explanations. Authors Richard Dawkins and Edith Hamilton’s books help better understand two different points of views on the Mythological Theory.…

    • 1484 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gould, annoyed with inconsistency in popular science, takes issue with widely accepted theories that have gained notoriety despite not having any real application of the scientific method. To argue his point he compares and contrasts three notable theories to explain the death of the dinosaurs. Gould explains that good science provides the opportunity to prove or disprove a hypothesis, and anything less is mere speculation.…

    • 552 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    your inner fish

    • 3496 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Scientific explanations begin with a hypothesis, ending with experiments that are performed to support the hypothesis made. This can then become a theory. Other ways of knowledge, on the other hand, don’t need to be tested to be true; we just know that they are true.…

    • 3496 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bill Bryson wrote this book because he was dissatisfied with his scientific knowledge — that was, not much at all. He writes that science was a distant, unexplained subject at school. Textbooks and teachers alike did not ignite the passion for knowledge in him, mainly because they never delved in the whys, hows, and whens.…

    • 6112 Words
    • 25 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As Watson stated in "The Value of Theories", a scientific theory is a systematic explanation that unifies various observed phenomena and facts. Based on observations we make, science operates under theories which are constantly revised and checked by experiment. A scientific theory also possesses many vital qualities for true understanding.…

    • 643 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Causes of the Holocaust

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Holocaust, The World Book Encyclopedia. World Book, Inc. a Scott Fetzer company. London, England. 1992.…

    • 580 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    BULLIMER

    • 603 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In communication, factual statements are used to back up definitive assertions. These statements can be based on observation and proven facts that can support assertions and ideas. During a conversation, it depends on how a person is going to give a response on certain topic in which may include reasoning. Reasoning can be classified as an argument and explanation. An argument is persuasive and seeks to make people understand that something is true, whereas explanation starts with the assumption of truthfulness and tells why or how the statement has come into existence. In this case, the two articles written by Bumiller and Fullam show a clear distinction between an argument and explanation. Elizabeth Bumiller’s article, “Bush Remarks Roil Debate over Teaching of Evolution”, is an explanation while Lisa Fullam’s article, “Of God and the Case for Unintelligent Design”, is an argument.…

    • 603 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays