The quest concerning scientific values, principles, and responsibilities

The quest concerning scientific values, principles, and responsibilities The quest concerning scientific values, principles, and responsibilities I recently came across a blog post (Geher, 2020) mentioning the troubles some scientists had in publishing their paper in a scientific peer-reviewed journal The paper in question (Geher et al., 2020) described a study about academic values in higher education The academic values mentioned in this paper were “academic rigor”, “academic freedom”, “social justice”, “student emotional well-being”, and “advancing knowledge” The exact results, and details, of this study are not of primary importance for the current paper However, as a result of coming to know of this paper, I started to wonder what “academic values” even are, and what they could, or perhaps even should, be This pondering was further strengthened by remembering that I had been looking for papers about what scientific values, principles, and responsibilities could, or should, be a while ago, and not finding a whole lot except a single paper by Popper (1971) The combination of the above described events, and some lingering thoughts I had, led me to think about this all some more I reasoned a search for thoughts, ideas, and papers about these types of issues could 1) possibly be a useful, interesting, and/or amusing approach to writing a manuscript about this all, and 2) the possible results of such a quest, and writing of a manuscript, could possibly be of some use in further discussing, thinking, and writing about these matters Some definitions, and interpretations of words: Crossing the Dunes of Definitions While thinking about these issues, it seemed reasonable to (provisionally) conclude that everything depends on a whole lot of other stuff One thing being the definitions, and interpretations, of words used in thinking, and talking about these things Perhaps this is a good place to start the quest, because it could prevent misunderstandings, and could help in structuring thoughts and discussions The following definitions were taken from the same online dictionary (Merriam-Webster), and were chosen to best represent the (possible) meanings, and interpretations of these words concerning the paper by Geher et al (2020), and the general topic at hand Value - relative worth, utility, or importance - something (such as a principle or quality) intrinsically valuable or desirable Principle - a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption - a rule or code of conduct Responsibility - the quality or state of being responsible, such as a) moral, legal, or mental accountability b) reliability, trustworthiness Academic - of, relating to, or associated with an academy or school especially of higher learning Scientific - of, relating to, or exhibiting the methods or principles of science - conducted in the manner of science or according to results of investigation by science: practicing or using thorough or systematic methods Science -knowledge or a system of knowledge covering general truths or the operation of general laws especially as obtained and tested through scientific method Scientific method -principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses Now, to bring it back to the paper about academic values in higher education, and the quest for scientific values, principles, and responsibilities Perhaps it can be wondered whether it would make sense to be as specific as possible when talking about these issues, and if this could subsequently lead to something useful concerning thinking, writing, and talking about these matters This pondering brings us to the second part of the journey Separating words, interpretations, assumptions, and expectations: Traversing the Canyons of Categorization and Conflict Perhaps any value can potentially be seen as an “academic value” It may seem tedious to specifically define, and interpret, words and terms used in research and discussions regarding academic values It may however (also) be extremely useful in (further) thinking, writing, and talking about these issues For instance, what makes the values (“academic rigor”, “academic freedom”, “social justice”, “student emotional well-being”, and “advancing knowledge”) mentioned in Geher et al (2020) academic values? When closely looking at the definitions of “academic” and “value” depicted above, any value that can be seen as being associated with a place of higher learning can perhaps be considered to then be an “academic value” It seems that, at least following a certain interpretation, if (many) people in academia value something, it can be seen as an “academic value” because (in some way at least) it can be associated with a school of higher learning Perhaps this reasoning, and subsequent conclusion, is strengthened by several empirical findings mentioned in Geher et al (2020) Geher et al (2020) mention that differences in educational values based on the political orientation of university faculty have been found (cf Zipp & Fenwick, 2006), and that a value like academic freedom may be constituted differently across universities or colleges (cf Kerlind & Kayrooz, 2010), and across disciplines (cf Moses & Ramsden, 2006) Taken together this seems to indicate that certain values may differ between universities, disciplines, and faculty In combination with the possibility that academics might differ in their attraction to certain fields of study based on their political orientation, it seems likely that various fields of study may have different core beliefs pertaining to what should be valued in academia (Geher et al., 2020) One could perhaps argue that not everything can, or should, be seen as an academic value just because it can be associated in a certain manner with a place of higher learning Perhaps there should be made a distinction between “academic values”, and “values that people at an academy have or share” But even when trying to interpret academic values in this (perhaps more common sense) manner, things may not be as clear cut as expected In attempting to interpret academic values in this way, perhaps the crucial part of the definition, and interpretation of “academic” hinges on the words “higher learning” According to the dictionary, higher learning can be defined as “education, learning, or scholarship on the collegiate or university level” What this “learning”, or “education”, or “scholarship” consists of, or should consist of, seems unclear (at least from looking at the definition mentioned) To illustrate this point, one definition of “learning” is “modification of a behavioural tendency by experience (such as exposure to conditioning)” The latter definition may fit well with certain criticism of (higher) education 1, but is usually not what one would think of regarding learning things at a place of higher education When looking for other definitions of the word “academic”, other definitions and interpretations like “relating to schools, colleges, and universities, or connected with studying and thinking, not with practical skills” can be found But, even these kinds of definitions and interpretations allow for many things to be seen as “academic” Perhaps any value can (also) be seen as (or turn into) a principle, or responsibility As mentioned in the introduction, the values (“academic rigor”, “academic freedom”, “social justice”, “student emotional well-being”, and “advancing knowledge”) of the study by Geher et al (2020) contributed to beginning the quest concerning scientific values, principles, and responsibilities When viewing these values more closely, I wondered whether some of them could also, or perhaps even better, be seen as responsibilities and/or principles For instance, “student emotional well-being” can perhaps (at least to a certain degree) also be categorized as some sort of a responsibility of a university, and its staff This is due to the basic nature of a university as a place where people go to learn things, and some sort of implicit (or perhaps even explicit) assumption that the university is a place where people should be safe, treated with respect, etc Additionally, a “principle” can be defined as “a comprehensive and fundamental law, doctrine, or assumption”, and “a rule or code of conduct” Following from these definitions, it seems reasonable to state that if one values something so much that it becomes a (basis for a) rule, or code of conduct, it may be hard to differentiate between the value and the principle In fact, one of the definitions of “value” listed above explicitly mentions that a principle can be an example of something that is intrinsically valuable or desirable The same reasoning can perhaps also be applied to “responsibility” If one values something very much, it seems quite possible that it can become (a basis for) some sort of a moral responsibility All in all, it seems that it may be hard, if not impossible, to meaningfully differentiate between values, principles, and responsibilities, and/or they can overlap Perhaps “academic” does not (need to) mean, or imply, “scientific” As concluded above, almost anything can potentially be seen as “academic”, and there seems to not be a clear connection between “academic” and “scientific” looking at the definition given above Maybe “academic” does not mean, or imply, “scientific”, and maybe it does not have to mean, or imply, that Perhaps it all depends on your assumptions, and expectations To further illustrate this point, I hope it’s useful to share the following personal story When I entered university I thought I would learn about (the importance of) logic, reasoning, debating, critical thinking, philosophy of science, important works by great scientists, etc This was all based on my assumptions and expectations about what is important in science, what is important in learning to be a scientist, and first and foremost that I would receive a scientific education at university I hardly learned anything concerning these things during my time at university I have often wondered what I did learn, and I think it was a whole lot less “scientific” than I thought it would (or should) be I now think and feel I more or less received an education in how to participate in a deeply flawed system consisting of bad research, mindless statistics, nonsensical publication and evaluation processes, and overall poor thinking across the board (e.g see Ioannidis, 2012, p 647) Maybe this isn’t even so much a problem in and of itself, as long as it would have been made clear up front In that sense, perhaps there could be different kinds of academies, or universities, where it’s very clear up front what can be expected of an education there That way students can make better choices To keep in line with parts of Haidt’s (2016) presentation, perhaps students can choose a truth (scientific), or a social justice university Or perhaps there can be certain combinations of these things Students can perhaps choose a 20% truth (scientific) & 80% social justice combination university, or a 30% student emotional well-being & 70% truth (scientific) combination university, or a 15% truth (scientific) & 20% social justice & 65% student emotional well-being combination university Or perhaps there can be a 100% student emotional well-being & 100% truth (scientific) combination where there is a rigorous adherence to scientific (truth) principles concerning what is being taught, and how, but only if this does not have any negative impact regarding the emotional well-being of students (according to some criteria) And perhaps there could be many more options, like a 100% party university, or a 100% wishful thinking & 100% fairy tale combination university, or a 50% this-is-a-university-that-really-doesn’t-care-about-what-is being-taught-here-as-long-asstudents-pay-lots-of-money-to-attend-this-place & 50% even-if-you-now-have-a-big-student-loandebt-at-least-you-got-to-experience-college combination university As long as it is clear up front what students can expect from a specific university, education, course, something mentioned in a lecture, something written or referred to in course materials, etc perhaps all is fine and good Students can then perhaps, to quote the main character of the movie “Good Will Hunting”, better decide whether to spend “(…) a hundred and fifty grand on a f#ckin’ education you could have got for a dollar fifty in late charges at the public library” Or they can better choose a university, education, or course, that caters to their expectations, assumptions, wants, and needs And with that, we arrive at the final leg of the journey Conclusions, and possible consequences, of the quest concerning scientific values, principles, and responsibilities: Walking home via the Hills of Hope Conclusions As a result of the above, it seems reasonable to conclude that any value can potentially be considered to be an “academic value” based on a certain definition and interpretation Additionally, it seems that any value can (also) be seen as (or turn into) a principle, or responsibility, and/or that these may all overlap And finally, it can perhaps be concluded that “academic” does not (need to) necessarily mean or imply “scientific” However, regarding whether something can be considered to be “scientific” it seems reasonable to state that the definitions of things like “scientific”, “science”, and “the scientific method” leave less room for interpretation and are more clear The definitions and interpretations of words like “scientific” and “science” involve words like “knowledge”, “truth”, and “general laws” as crucial aspects Almost anything can perhaps potentially be considered to be “academic”, but for something to be considered to be “scientific” stricter, and/or more clear, and/or more precise, criteria should be met When coming to this conclusion, my search for what scientific values, principles, and responsibilities could and/or should be became less urgent or interesting (perhaps the journey is sometimes more important, or useful, than the destination) I reason scientific values, principles, and responsibilities could and/or should all kind of follow naturally from the definitions of things like “scientific”, and in turn things like “knowledge”, and “truth” This also seems to fit well with the paper by Popper (1971) titled “The moral responsibility of the scientist” that was found concerning these matters, and mentioned in the introduction above More specifically the following quote from it may be illustrative in this regard: “The first duty of every serious student is to further the growth of knowledge by participating in the search for truth - or in the search for a better approximation to the truth” (p 280) I don’t even feel the need at this point in time to further attempt to find papers pertaining to what scientific values, principles, and responsibilities are, or could and/or should be When separating academic from scientific values (and concluding that they may not be the same, or have to be the same), and concluding that it might be hard to meaningfully separate values, principles, and responsibilities (and/or that these may all overlap) things kind of fell in place for me Possible consequences Perhaps making definitions, interpretations, assumptions, and expectations explicit in thinking, talking, discussing, and doing research concerning these issues might be useful in several ways It may function as an important first step in further reasoning, debating, and researching by making sure everyone is on the same page (cf Kerlind & Kayrooz, 2010), and it could help in structuring thoughts, and reasoning This process may additionally lead to a kind of cognitive and emotional distancing from one’s own, and others’, reasoning and even the larger topic at hand This could be useful concerning understanding oneself, and others, and this could be useful regarding possibly viewing things from a different or new perspective All these things combined might be very useful when it comes to sound and optimal thinking, writing, debating, and performing research about the topic at hand In the later stages of the quest concerning scientific values, principles, and responsibilities I discovered the Trivium in Classical Education, and a paper titled “The lost tools of learning” (Sayers, 1947) Perhaps (parts of) the above fits nicely with the Trivium, where the three topics of Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric are taught (and subsequently form the basis for further study) Perhaps it makes sense to try and identify, comprehend, organize, name, and express what the objects in question are (Grammar), and to define words and terms before using them to compose arguments and statements involving them (Logic), and subsequently trying to speak or write effectively about them (Rhetoric) The English translations of Trivium (“three ways”, or “three roads”, or “the place where three roads meet”) coincidentally seem to fit well with the running theme of this manuscript Being aware of, and making clear what the objects in question are, and defining (crucial) words and terms before using them to compose arguments and statements involving them can create some sort of road location markers, and road signs at a crossroads of possible paths These road location markers and road signs might be helpful in identifying where people exactly are, and where exactly they might take a certain path and assume, conclude, or something Making this all explicit for oneself, and others, could be helpful in trying to understand oneself, and others This in turn might make for better arguing why (not) to take a certain road, or where a certain road might lead to Or it could lead to discovering new roads which could lead to elevated places that may provide a different, and perhaps better and/or more complete view of things Or it could lead to sometimes following a certain road just to see where it might lead to, and what views might be seen and/or discovered by doing so For instance, perhaps wandering down a certain road may lead to wondering whether learning about and honing (arguably) scientific and/or scientifically related things like logic, reasoning, and rhetoric by not only academics and/or scientists but also members of society at large might be very useful concerning tackling issues regarding social justice, emotional well-being, and lots of other stuff Or perhaps it could lead to further pondering about science, and the scientific method, and whether engaging in these things could possibly help achieve goals related to values like social justice, and emotional well-being (perhaps in some cases and/or to a certain extent without even explicitly trying) Additionally, it could lead to further thinking that if this could be the case, whether it could be of importance to make sure there are some places where people could be educated well in matters of science, and the scientific method And it could lead to thinking about whether it could be of possible importance to make sure the best thoughts, ideas, reasoning, hypotheses, theories, and research pertaining to these issues are produced And if this is deemed important, it could subsequently lead to thinking about how to possibly achieve this And, finally, it could perhaps even lead to wondering whether at both places of higher learning, and society at large, learning how to think might be more important than learning what to think (cf Sayers, 1947) 1 Note: The following quote from Noam Chomsky may be illustrative here: “Most schooling is just training for stupidity and conformity” References Geher, G (2020, November 26) Politics in Academia: A case study Psychology Today https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/darwins-subterranean-world/202011/ politics-in-academia-case-study Geher, G., Jewell, O., Holler, R., Planke, J., Betancourt, K., Baroni, A., Di Santo, J., Gleason, M., & Eisenberg, J (2020) Politics and academic values in Higher Education: Just how much does political orientation drive the values of the ivory tower? Unpublished Manuscript DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/BYCF2 Haidt, J (State University of New York at New Paltz; Instructional Media Services) (2016, September 30) How two incompatible sacred values are driving conflict and confusion in American Universities Presentation given at the State University of New York at New Paltz Podcast retrieved from: http://newpaltz.mediasite.suny.edu/Mediasite/Play/2f4aad7b42e14e429566b21ab dfc1f6c1d Ioannidis, J P A (2012) Why science is not necessarily self-correcting Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 645-654 Kerlind, G & Kayrooz, C (2010) Understanding Academic Freedom: The views of social scientists Higher Education Research & Development, 22, 327-344 Moses, I & Ramsden, P (2006) Academic Values And Academic Practice In The New Universities Higher Education Research & Development, 11, 101-118 Popper, K R (1971) The moral responsibility of the scientist Bulletin of Peace Proposals, 2, 279-283 Sayers, D L (1947) The lost tools of learning Paper read at a Vacation Course in Education, Oxford 1947 Zipp, J F., & Fenwick, R (2006) Is the academy a liberal hegemony? The political orientations and educational values of professors Public Opinion Quarterly, 70, 304-326 ... education, and the quest for scientific values, principles, and responsibilities Perhaps it can be wondered whether it would make sense to be as specific as possible when talking about these issues, and. .. contributed to beginning the quest concerning scientific values, principles, and responsibilities When viewing these values more closely, I wondered whether some of them could also, or perhaps... arrive at the final leg of the journey Conclusions, and possible consequences, of the quest concerning scientific values, principles, and responsibilities: Walking home via the Hills of Hope Conclusions