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发表于 2004-4-16 03:19:35
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Issue184: 505 words
It is a grave mistake to theorize before one has data.
提纲:
1. 部分同意,分范围:自然学科是,人文学科并非如此
2. 自然学科
3. 人文学科
4. 总结
How important are the data to a theory? Whether is it a grave mistake to theorize before one has data? As far as I am concerned, it is not a simple question with a single answer. As for the natural science fields, to theorize in lack of data is a severe mistake; but as for the humanities fields, it is not as same.
Firstly, it is necessary for one studying in natural science to theorize after the data are available. As we all know, natural science comprises of studies involved in the physical world and phenomena, which usually be achieved in a precise process: observe, record, think, design experiments, gather experimental results, and then theorize. For instance, the prominent botanist Mendel had cultivated pea plants for more than 8 years and collected affluent information of kinds of crossbred peas before he advanced his theory of the heredity, which is regarded the foundation of the modern genetics. Any theory in natural science needs data to support its credibility, and otherwise, it could only be called a postulation rather than an exact law of the nature until it is testified by data later. Or even it is nothing but a hasty and incorrect conclusion. For example, before the great Renaissance, the whole Europe was controlled under Aristotle's "theories", such as the geocentricism, which were theorized based on merely on Aristotle’s thoughts and granted imagination without any data support at his time. However, such a grave mistake had been ultimately revealed and deserted, no matter how the Church hampered the mass to access the truth advanced by scientists like Copernicus and Bruno with buttress of ample data. Therefore, to establish a theory of natural science, data should be collected before if one does not want to make ridiculous mistakes and draw ungrounded conclusions.
Secondly, as for the humanities fields, such as philosophy, social science, literature and art, data are not so significant as they are in natural science fields because data are no longer the tool to support and testify them. Such a distinctive point comes from the differences between the two kinds of science. Compared with natural science, humanities care for the human aspects of the world, so their subjects always are neither material nor realistic, for example, the correlations between people living in different social hierarchies and the developments of a society. Theories in these fields are propounded as summaries of the past or a foretelling for the future., or just evanescent muses. As illustrations, philosophers can advance a theory by deducting or thinking in his/her mind only without any data. And also, artists can summarize his/her experience and establish theories with an absence of any data. One can attack the logical flaws in philosophers' works and unpractical points in artists' theories, but he/she cannot prove they are wrong just because their thoughts are lack of data.
In conclusion, it is a confused conception that to theorize before one has data is surely a grave mistake. Natural science and humanities are so different that they should be taken into consideration respectively. Natural scientists should hold a serious attitude to the essential work of gathering available data, only based on which, they can draw conclusions and even advance theories. But scientists in humanities fields should not be confined in the necessity of data. They should open their mind and theorize based on their thoughts and observations. (564)
我实在太困了……改不动了……我知道写得很差……还是来丢丢脸吧!
明早上我自己也继续改之。 |
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