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Re: PSEUDO-SCIENCE ? (rambling but not long)

Why hate the social sciences? I'm studying
linguistics and psychology (both labeled here at the U
of AZ as "social and behavioral sciences") with plans
of doing serious scientific work in the area of
cognitive science. I know this fails the name test,
but I think a lot of serious neuroscientists would
object to tossing it out.

I think it is important to recognize that often the
disciplines we label social sciences are only sciences
in their infancy (or at least in the early stages of
*scientific* development). Aristotle's physics was
largely (if not wholly) untested (and to some degree
untestable) philosophical speculation. The psychology
of Freud and James were only a little better than this
physics. I don't feel that in either case this
disqualifies the field. Modern cognitive and
behavioral psychology is increasingly difficult to
separate from neuroscience.

Linguistics has likewise been recently moving up in
the world of science. Computational rules for speech
seem very science like to me. The essence of
linguistics is a descriptive study of a naturally
ocurring phenomenon (speech). I can't think of any
useful distinction that would remove linguistics from
the list but keep other well recognized science.
Study human communication and you're a linguist; study
animal communication and you're an ecologist or an
environmental biologist, both clearly scientists IMO.

Best,
Zach

--- Chuck Britton <britton@ACADEMIC.NCSSM.EDU> wrote:
At 8:20 AM -0500 2/27/00, Ludwik Kowalski wrote:


Does anybody know the history of the name "Earth
Science",
as opposed to a very respectable name "Geology"?
Ludwik Kowalski

this isn't history - but -

Earth Science includes atmosphere (weather) and
marine studies in
addition to the more limited Geology fields of Rocks
and Minerals.


The Social 'Sciences' are MY pet peeves.

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Chuck Britton
Education is what is left when
britton@academic.ncssm.edu you
have forgotten everything
North Carolina School of Science & Math you
learned in school.
(919) 286-3366 x224
Albert Einstein, 1936

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