Tok Natural and Human Sciences
TOK Essay
Natural Sciences - How far do expectations influence observations?
Alysia Francis
In my opinion I believe that expectations influence or observations greatly. If we think something will happen we are more likely to look hard for it. If we want something to appear then it is more likely that we will think that we see it. An example of this is when people hallucinate. Someone is more likely to see a ghost if they believe or are expecting to see one. In natural sciences when looking for something in an experiment we may think we see it if we are really hoping or expecting to see it. For example when looking for bubbles rising in different liquids and we are expecting one to rise then we may think we saw one and if not expecting one to rise we may think that it wasn’t one. Another supporting example is when we are looking for someone and we see someone either in the distance or we see a flash or someone, if we are expecting to see that person or hoping to see them we may interpret them as the one we are looking for. This shows how expectations can influence our observations in seeing what we want and/or what we expect to see. Although to an extent expectations don’t completely influence our observations. They don’t change them only impact on them. We may see after that it isn’t when we focus more on the subject. So our observations can be momentarily manipulated but not completely.
It depends whether it is a positive expectation or negative expectation
Human Sciences – How do the human sciences differ from the natural sciences?
Human sciences study human life and human activities. It includes fields of study such as social sciences like history, anthropology, sociology and many others. Basically, everything that has humans all over it.
Natural sciences on the other hand studies the universe. It includes fields of study such as biology, astrology, chemistry, physics and others. Basically, everything about nature and what is around
Natural Sciences - How far do expectations influence observations?
Alysia Francis
In my opinion I believe that expectations influence or observations greatly. If we think something will happen we are more likely to look hard for it. If we want something to appear then it is more likely that we will think that we see it. An example of this is when people hallucinate. Someone is more likely to see a ghost if they believe or are expecting to see one. In natural sciences when looking for something in an experiment we may think we see it if we are really hoping or expecting to see it. For example when looking for bubbles rising in different liquids and we are expecting one to rise then we may think we saw one and if not expecting one to rise we may think that it wasn’t one. Another supporting example is when we are looking for someone and we see someone either in the distance or we see a flash or someone, if we are expecting to see that person or hoping to see them we may interpret them as the one we are looking for. This shows how expectations can influence our observations in seeing what we want and/or what we expect to see. Although to an extent expectations don’t completely influence our observations. They don’t change them only impact on them. We may see after that it isn’t when we focus more on the subject. So our observations can be momentarily manipulated but not completely.
It depends whether it is a positive expectation or negative expectation
Human Sciences – How do the human sciences differ from the natural sciences?
Human sciences study human life and human activities. It includes fields of study such as social sciences like history, anthropology, sociology and many others. Basically, everything that has humans all over it.
Natural sciences on the other hand studies the universe. It includes fields of study such as biology, astrology, chemistry, physics and others. Basically, everything about nature and what is around