Saturday 29 November 2014

The socio-linguistic function and representation of science and scientific discovery in society

I have recently been thinking about the broader function of science and the application of scientific rules, processes and language in relation to society, cognition and discourse.

Science is simply observation, probability analysis, pattern recognition and discovery. By that definition all people are scientists on some level.  We discover that if we drop a glass from height on a hard surface it will, in all probability, shatter. If the action is repeated we discover that, all things being equal, it will probably shatter again. A simple scientific discovery has been made, albeit without the formalities of academic rigour, control, scope, method and conclusion. It is nonetheless scientific in a broad sense.