TOPIC 1. SCIENCE, SCIENTIFIC THINKING, SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH Lecture: SCIENCE AND SCIENTIFIC THINKING INTRODUCTION The purpose of this lecture is to give a general idea of science and scientific thinking, to awaken interest in these phenomena of human life, to show that scientific thinking is not at all divorced from everyday thinking and some of its elements are familiar to all of us from childhood, but something will be useful in professional activity. We will also show that social sciences have interesting specifics and that any scientific discipline is a very dynamic phenomenon, going through its stages of development, experiencing crises and even revolutions. Thus, in this lecture we will not dive into the details of the organization of scientific research, as well as the main issues of philosophy and history of science. Our task is to answer the following questions: What is scientific thinking, and what are its origins? What is Science? What functions does science perform? How do experts classify sciences, and why is this done? How is science developing? Key concepts in this chapter are: scientific thinking, abstract thinking, science, social sciences, development, paradigm, "normal" science. THEORETICAL MATERIAL Scientific thinking is the key to understanding the essence of science and the most important attribute of scientific activity. Therefore, we will begin our conversation about science by considering the specific properties of scientific thinking in comparison with ordinary thinking. 1. Scientific thinking and its origins Throughout his life, a person learns the world around him. Colors, sounds, smells - they become available to us thanks to the five senses. This level of knowledge is called sensory. However, not all knowledge about the world can be obtained at the sensory level of cognition. There is no such specialized organ of senses that would catch patterns in the same way, for example, as the aroma of barbecue. There is no sense organ that would allow one to "grope" the causes and consequences of events. The sensual way of knowing does not allow you to penetrate the essence of things. Laws, patterns, cause-and-effect relationships cannot be reflected in our consciousness directly, like taste or color. A person displays significant connections between phenomena indirectly - by comparing various facts. This is how the thinking process is carried out. Thinking is one of the cognitive processes of a person (along with sensation, perception, memory and imagination), which is a reflection in the human mind of the essence of objects and processes of the objective world, their essential properties and relations between them. Thinking allows you to gain knowledge about such objects, properties and relationships that cannot be directly perceived at the sensory level of cognition. Thinking is classified into ordinary (everyday) and scientific. Ordinary thinking is thinking based on common sense, on the so-called everyday experience, generalized with the help of primitive logical analysis. Scientific thinking is thinking aimed at understanding the deep essence of the real world and meeting the criteria of evidence, objectivity, consistency (Fig. 1). "All science is nothing more than an improvement in everyday thinking." Albert Einstein focus on understanding the deep ESSENCE of the world rigorous PROOF OBJECTIVITY (exclusion of everything subjective related to the personality of the scientist) SYSTEMITY of knowledge wide use of the ABSTRACT method minimal use of NORMATIVE thinking Scientific thinking Figure: 1. Basic properties of scientific thinking Researchers of the processes of thinking gradually began to incline to the conclusion that ordinary thinking is not so "unscientific", and scientific thinking is not so divorced from everyday life. Both types of thinking are based on the same mechanisms of cognition. Both types of thinking are prone to the same mistakes (for example, the error "after this means because of this"). Both types of thinking make extensive use of the abstraction technique. Abstraction is a distraction from a number of specific properties of an object in order to highlight its essential properties. The use of abstraction in everyday thinking allows a person to carry out the simplest analysis of life situations - to compare, generalize, and classify. Any adult is engaged in comparing objects and phenomena, sorting them. Why is he doing this? In order to know how to behave with these objects and phenomena. After all, we behave differently with bosses and subordinates, men and women, old and young. Therefore, our every action is based on the conscious or unconscious construction of classification boundaries. We divide food into tasty and tasteless, and we refuse to tasteless. We divide people into pleasant and unsympathetic to us, and we are friends with the first. The described level of abstraction is the simplest level inherent in everyday thinking. For advanced scientific thinking, higher levels of abstraction are characteristic. Generally speaking, the entire process of the formation of science can be represented as a process of the development of abstract thinking. This process stretched over millennia and went through 3 stages, corresponding to three levels of abstraction. The 1st level of abstraction is the level of quality, classifying science. At this level, abstraction consists in identifying the essential properties of objects, forming object classes on this basis and assigning names to these classes. The class name is a level 1 abstraction (Fig. 2). 2nd level of abstraction: number. This is a much stronger abstraction than a name: if the name “represents” a specific group of objects (eg bears), then the number refers to any group of a given number of objects (for example, the number “seven” describes both bears and the rhinoceros, and seven piglets). If the name forms a class by abstraction from all the individual properties of individual objects, then the number forms a "class of classes" by abstraction from all the properties of the group, except for the number of objects included in it. With the advent of numbers, people were able to measure objects in the surrounding world. 3rd level of abstraction: algebra, which is based on the concept of a variable. A variable is an even stronger abstraction than a number: if the number represents any group of objects, then the variable represents any number. Just as the number "seven" can refer to any seven objects, the variable "x" can refer to any number in the specified range. That is, the variable forms a class of classes of classes. With the advent of algebra, man was able to find abstract relationships between phenomena - that is, to discover the laws and patterns of our world. Ultimately, the goal of fundamental science is precisely in the search for universal, that is, the most abstract, laws that describe the processes taking place in various points of the Universe. These laws include, for example, the law of conservation of energy and mass: E = mc2, where E is energy, m is the rest mass of a body, c is the speed of light in a vacuum. These are alive with long necks, and those animals are maned. The first group will be called "giraffes", the second group "lions", and the third group ... According to biblical legend, one of Adam's first tasks was to name animals and plants. For this he had to work hard. First, it was necessary to identify the similarities and differences between objects of nature, and then group everything that is similar and learn to distinguish it from everything that is dissimilar. In these actions of Adam we see the manifestation of the 1st level of abstraction: by abstraction from the individual properties of animals and plants, Adam passed to the classes of natural objects. Figure: 2. First level of abstraction: name and class The historical process of the formation of abstract thinking in science has led to the fact that modern scientific thinking involves constant switching between different levels of abstraction (Fig. 3). LEVEL 3 transition to algebraic formulas describing relations between dimensions VARIABLE LEVEL 2 transition from objects to their quantitative measurements NUMBER NUMBER LEVEL 1 transition from individual objects to a class by highlighting the general essential properties of objects CLASS CLASS CLASS WHOLE WORLD Figure: 3. Three levels of abstraction in science CLASS 2. The concept of science. Basic functions of science Science is: 1. The system of knowledge of the objective laws of nature, society and thinking. 2. Subsystem of knowledge, teaching (for example, management is the science of management). 3. The scope of human activity to gain knowledge. 4. A tool for acquiring knowledge. 5. Social institution. The purpose of science is to understand the objective world by identifying the essential sides and interconnections of natural phenomena, society and thinking. This goal dictates the main tasks of science, presented in Fig. 4. As can be seen from the above list of tasks, the main functions of science are explanatory, predictive and ideological functions. The explanatory function allows you to understand how the world works, why certain phenomena occur. The predictive function allows you to answer questions like "What will happen if ...?". THE TASKS OF SCIENCE description of phenomena systematization of phenomena explanation of phenomena WHAT, HOW, WHY HAPPENING? WHAT HAPPENS prediction of phenomena applying knowledge in practice IF...? WHAT SHOULD BE? formation of people's worldview Figure: 4. The tasks of science 3. Classification of sciences Any classification of sciences is very conditional. However, there is a generally accepted classification that you need to know, if only in order not to get confused in the library catalog (Fig. 5.). SYSTEM OF SCIENCES NATURAL (natural sciences) PUBLIC, HUMANITIES (human sciences) physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy, economy, history, art history maths logics, psychology ... ... ... including EXACT SCIENCES including THE SCIENCES OF THINKING APPLIED sciences Technics, Agriculture Medicine ... Figure: 5. Classification of sciences In addition to librarianship, the classification of sciences is used in the following areas: - when forming the structure of scientific institutions; - when developing curricula for universities; - when determining the content of textbooks and teaching aids; - when planning and coordinating scientific research; - when establishing links between science and practice. - when writing encyclopedic works. 4. Stages of science formation Economic science, like any other specific scientific discipline, is not a frozen alloy of knowledge, but a dynamic system that has its own life cycle and goes through its stages of development from inception to maturity. The process of the formation of any specific science in historical terms includes the following periods (Fig. 6): 1. The pre-scientific period. During this period, in the subject area where the "building of science" will later be erected, everyday practical human activity is carried out. This is how, for example, the management of factories and plants was carried out in the days preceding the emergence of the scientific discipline of management. At the same time, during the pre-scientific period, methods of practical activity are formed spontaneously and are not transmitted from person to person. Since there is no accumulation of knowledge, there is no science either. But the art of the corresponding subject area is being formed. The essence of this phenomenon is that some people perform certain types of activities significantly better than others (that is, they are more "skilled" in this area). Relatively recently, such a state was observed in the advertising business: goods were advertised, masters and leaders in advertising existed, but their experience was not generalized and systematized, as a result, there was no formal scheme of actions and typical methods of behavior in the advertising business. 2. The empirical level of development of science. During this period, there is an exchange of experience. Knowledge is transferred from person to person, generalized and accumulated. As a result, science is invading the area where art once reigned supreme. However, the art of the subject area does not disappear: it turns into the ability of a specialist to adapt to specific conditions the formalized scheme of actions that science offers for a typical situation. If you have an apple and I have an apple, then during the exchange you and I will have one apple each. And if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange them, then each of us will have two ideas. Bernand Shaw The main task of young science in this period is the accumulation, description and prediction of facts. As a consequence, in this period, science is characterized by the use of empirical research methods, that is, those methods that allow you to obtain primary information in the form of a set of experimental data. At the initial stage of the empirical period, only qualitative descriptions and judgments are used (for example, recommendations “in such and such a situation it is advisable to do this and that”). Then they begin to use statistical data (the values of quantitative indicators obtained in the practice of the subject area), then they introduce empirical formulas (relations connecting the values of statistical data taken as input variables with the values of statistical. 3. Theoretical (methodological) level of science development. In this period, the main task of science is to explain the phenomena of the subject area. As a consequence, in this period, science is characterized by the use of methods of theoretical research, that is, methods such as hypothesis, modeling, idealization, abstraction, generalization, thought experiment. 4. Methodological level of development of science. This is the highest period in the development of science, in which science itself becomes the object of research. The name of this period comes from the term "methodology", denoting the doctrine of methods and theories, the structure and logical organization of research activities. BEFORE SCIENTIFIC PERIOD accumulation of knowledge is excluded EMPIRICAL LEVEL empirical knowledge is passed from person to person comparison, measurement, induction, deduction, analysis qualitative judgments, quality indicators, then: statistical data, empirical formulas THEORETICAL LEVEL hypothesis, operating modeling, with idealization, theoretical abstraction, level generalization, objects thought experiment THEORETICAL LEVEL identification of the object of scientific research (SR), setting the task of SR, science statement of a scientific about problem, science construction of a SR method, validation of conclusions, assessment of the significance of results Figure: 6. Stages of science formation 5. Cyclic development of science In addition to the fact that scientific disciplines undergo linear development from the prescientific period to the methodological one, any mature science is characterized by cyclical development. According to the concept of the American philosopher and historian of science, Thomas Kuhn, any particular science develops cyclically through the constant change of two qualitatively different periods: - the period of "normal science", - crisis and revolutionary period (Fig. 7). The period of "normal science" is an equilibrium state of science, when a certain "paradigm" reigns supreme. A paradigm (Greek paradeigma - example, sample, pattern) is a recognized scientific theory that, over a period of time, sets a model for scientific activity. In addition, the paradigm is the very dominant model of scientific activity, consisting of a set of theoretical principles, methodological norms, worldviews and value criteria. In other words, this is the dominant conceptual system, the style of thinking in science. 3 2 A CRISIS NORMAL SCIENCE 1 REVOLUTION accumulation of scientific knowledge Figure: 7. Cycles of development of science During the period of "normal science" the provisions of the accepted paradigm are not questioned. Scientists carry out research that is not focused on major discoveries, but is intended to expand the scope and improve the accuracy of the application of the paradigm. However, the peaceful "expansion" of the dominant paradigm is not endless. More and more facts are gradually accumulating that contradict the prevailing theory. At first, these facts are ignored, adjusted to the provisions of the theory, but for some time now it becomes impossible to ignore them, which gives rise to a crisis situation. The crisis in science marks the beginning of the "revolutionary" period of its development. During this period, the existence of problems is realized that are not fundamentally solved within the framework of the old paradigm. The search for alternative ideas and paradigms based on them begins. A struggle arises between the proposed concepts, as a result of which one of the new paradigms wins, which means the beginning of a new period of "normal" science. Then this cycle repeats). EXAMPLE Employment theory paradigm One of the paradigms that previously dominated economic theory is the classical theory of employment, which dominated. in science in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The main idea of this theory is that capitalism is a self-regulating system and the market economy is able to provide almost constant full employment of the population. This conclusion is based on Say's law (“supply generates corresponding demand”) and on the assumption of price and wage elasticity. It was believed that since supply creates demand, general overproduction is impossible: any decrease in consumption spending would be offset by a decrease in prices and wages, so that real output and employment would not decrease. During the period of "normal science", these provisions were considered axioms, and scientists set themselves particular tasks. For example, one of the tasks that scientists were solving during the period of dominance of the classical theory of employment was to study the impact of savings on the process of self-regulation of the market. Classical economists have shown that savings do not at all lead to insufficient demand (as it might seem at first glance), since household savings are compensated by investments of entrepreneurs. The second question is, how is the equality of savings and investment ensured? Classical economists have found a solution to this problem as well. It was shown that the equality of savings and investment is ensured by changes in the interest rate in the money market. In the early twentieth century, the provisions of the classical theory of employment were challenged by repeated periods of unemployment. At first, scientists explained the short-term drops in production by wars and unfavorable external circumstances, but in the 1930s, the Great Depression broke out in America. This fact completely contradicted the provisions of the prevailing theory. In this regard, many scholars began to criticize the fundamental principles of the classical theory of employment. The "revolutionary" period in economics ended with the Keynesian theory replacing the classical theory of employment, which states that capitalism is not a self-regulating system and under it there is no mechanism that guarantees full employment of the population. CONCLUSIONS Let's summarize what was stated in lecture number 1: 1. What is Science? Science is a system of knowledge of the objective laws of nature, as well as the sphere of human activity to acquire this knowledge. 2. The most important attribute of research activity is scientific thinking. On the one hand, scientific thinking is not divorced from everyday thinking. On the other hand, it has special properties that make it possible to obtain new, reliable and useful scientific results. 3. The main functions of science are explanatory, predictive and ideological functions. 4. Sciences are classified into natural, social, humanities and applied sciences. Sometimes the sciences of thinking are separated into a separate class. 5. Any scientific discipline is a dynamic system that develops, firstly, linearly (from the pre-scientific period to the methodological one), and secondly, cyclically (passing through the stages of normal science, crisis and revolutionary period).