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157 "There is no such thing as purely objective observation. All observation is subjective; it is always guided by the observer's expectations or desires." 4
I concede that all observation to some extent is subjective; and this subjectivity is not only directed by the observer's expectations or desires but also guided by people's nature--subjective individuals. Although observations can not escape this kind of subjectivity, observers must follow rigid, objective and scientific observation rules.
Admittedly, all observations are subjective in some sense in that observers, as carriers and operators of these observations, are subjective beings with subjective feelings, thoughts and ideas. This self-evident truth determines that the whole process of observation is inevitably subjective. For instance, When initiating an item of observation project, the first and foremost job for researchers is to study the objects by using of their sensitive organs such as eyes, ears, hands, etc., the first impression of the objects, therefore, falls into the subjective category. Then they start to do some experiments and collect reasonable and reliable data and filter those useless and even mendacious ones by means of their experience and even subjective judgment. Even those seasoned researchers will gather different data in the same observing process. And the last proceeding is to arrive at the observation results. This process is also involved in people's subjective judgment. The following example can aptly demonstrate this point: when observing a tree, what artists see is its green color and its winding stems and boughs, what botanists see is its powerful vitality, while in the architects’ eyes, whether or not it is fitful for construction is their sole concern. As illustrated above, we can safely draw a conclusion that all observations unavoidably turn out to be subjective.
From the foregoing analysis, we can see this subjectivity is the result of people's subjective consciousness. This subjectivity is somewhat unavoidable, but if observations are guided by the observer's expectations and desires, especially for those selfish ones, the observation will necessarily turn out to be subjective. For instance, some irresponsible scientists and researchers lacks the responsibilities to abide by the scientific rules and regulations when they make observations, they may purposely falsify the experimental data to draw deceitful results for the purpose of their expectations or desires for wealth and popularity. It is true that they may gain what they expected at sight; however, these experimental results can not experience the scrutiny of their peers, and the successes and popularity of these so-called observers are only transient, and ultimately they will suffer from the oblivion of the academia and even the scoff of the public.
Then how to make observations as reliable and convincing as possible? All scientists and observers should realize their responsibilities for scientific inquiry and on no account should scientific researches and observations be recklessly carried out. What they do is to strictly obey scientific and objective observation rules. This is to say, they should collect and record the experimental data as precisely as possible, and draw the results as reasonable as possible. Never can they fake observation data and falsify the results. Besides, after observations, observers should unceasingly test the reliability of these results, and these results should also weather the repetitive examination of other scientists and observers. Only doing this can observations be authentic and effective ones.(上面两段说观察都是主观的,但是这里说观察者遵循科学标准,努力使自己的观察可靠,真实(怎么好像转到客观了)。不知道这里是不是和前面paradox啊?晕了…请大家指点迷津。)
In conclusion, it is inevitable that all observations are subjective to some extent because of observers' subjective nature, and their expectations and desires, especially for those egoistic goals. However, they should follow the scientific rules to make their observations as reliable as possible. |
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