STS

• Science and Technology and Society


  • Interdisciplinary course examining how science and technology shape and are shaped by society
  • Explores conditions of production, distribution, and utilization of scientific knowledge and technological systems and their effects on society
  • History, philosophy of science and technology, sociology, and anthropology are interconnected to the discussion of STS
• Science and Technology Studies

  • (STS)Relatively recent discipline originating in the 60s and 70s following Kuhn's The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
  • Result of a "sociological turn" in science studies
  • Assumes science and technology are intertwined, social, and political
• Science


  • Evolving body of knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observation
• Technology


  • Science or knowledge put into practical use to solve problems or invent useful tools
• Society


  • Sum total of human interactions, including interactions to understand the nature of things and create things
• Science is used in technology by

  Developing new technologies through systematic observation and experiments
• Society


  Group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations
• The Role of Science and Technology


  • Alter the way people live, connect, communicate, and transact with profound effects on economic development
  • Key drivers to development, underpin economic advances, improvements in health systems, education, and infrastructure
  • Technological revolutions of the 21st century emerging from new sectors like micro-processors, telecommunications, bio-technology, and nano-technology
  • Power to better the lives of poor people in developing countries
  • Differentiators between countries that can tackle poverty effectively and those that cannot
  • Engine of growth and interventions for cognitive enhancement, proton cancer therapy, and genetic engineering
• How Science and Technology Affect Society

  • Major impact on society, impact is growing
  • Science has given man the chance to pursue societal concerns, create cultures, and improve human conditions
  • Influences society through knowledge and world view
  • Effect of science on society is neither entirely beneficial nor entirely detrimental
• Paradigm


  • Typical example or pattern of something
  • Distinct set of concepts or thought
• Scientific and technological development


  Influenced by pressure groups, social views, values, and priorities
• Paradigm


  • A typical example or pattern of something
  • A distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, including theories, research methods, postulates, and standards for what constitutes legitimate contributions to a field
  • A framework containing all the commonly accepted views about a subject, conventions about what direction research should take and how it should be performed
• Thomas Kuhn: '"The successive transition from one paradigm to another via revolution is the usual developmental pattern of mature science" - Kuhn, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions'
• Paradigm dictates

  • What is observed and measured
  • The questions we ask about those observations
  • How the questions are formulated
  • How the results are interpreted
  • How research is carried out
  • What equipment is appropriate
• Paradigm shift is another expression for more significant changes within belief systems
• Within philosophy of science, paradigm shift is sometimes considered important and is sometimes given great attention within education
• Kuhn's Paradigm


  Thomas Samuel Kuhn was an American physicist, historian, and philosopher of science whose controversial 1962 book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" was influential in both academic and popular circles
• "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" is a book about the history of science by the philosopher Thomas S. Kuhn
• The Kuhn Cycle is a simple cycle of progress described by Kuhn in his book
• Kuhn challenged the world's current conception of science, which was that it was a steady progression of the accumulation of new ideas
• Science, Technology, and Society


  Interconnected through paradigm shifts
• Pre-Science


  • Also called the pre-paradigm stage
  • The stage before the main Kuhn Cycle where there is no mature model of understanding to solve the field's main problems
• Normal Science


  The regular work of scientists theorizing, observing, and experimenting within a settled paradigm or explanatory framework
• Model Drift


  The model of understanding starts to drift due to accumulation of anomalies and phenomena that the model cannot explain
• Model Crisis


  The model drift becomes so excessive that the model is broken and can no longer serve as a reliable guide to problem-solving
• Model Revolution


  Begins when serious candidates for a new model emerge, leading to a radical shift in understanding
• Model Revolution


  Serious candidates for a new model emerge, which is radically different from the old one
• Model Revolution


  A field's model of understanding undergoes revolutionary change, with one or more competing new models emerging
• Paradigm Change


  The new paradigm is taught to newcomers and those already in the field until it becomes the generally accepted guide to work
• Paradigm shift

  
  

  During "normal science," anomalies are discounted as acceptable levels of error
• During "revolutionary science" or a paradigm shift, anomalies become the center of attention as scientists attempt to construct a new world view
• Historical examples of paradigms in Society/Ethics

  • Slavery, Role of Children in Society, Male Superiority, Reading and the Control over information, The Reformation
• Historical examples of paradigms in Natural Sciences

  • Darwin’s theory of evolution, Plate Tectonics, Albert Einstein’s space-time concept
• Newtonian Physics was replaced by General Relativity, putting Newton's laws into a broader context
• Kuhn's theory was a game-changer in thinking about scientific progress in metaphysical terms
• Scientific advancement might be more gradual, reframing existing theories rather than completely proving them wrong
• Historical examples of paradigms in Human Sciences

  • Psychology, Economics
• Historical examples of paradigms in the Arts

  • The Realist paradigm, Shakespeare's impact on drama/theater, Jazz & rock revolutionizing music
• The concept of paradigm is related to the Platonic and Aristotelian views of knowledge
• Aristotle believed in the patient gathering of data for knowledge, while Plato believed in judging knowledge by the final purpose