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"[Modernity] is not some
objective force removed from the constraints of culture - and it
is certainly not the true and only wave of history. It is
merely a constellation of beliefs, convictions, and economic
paradigms that represent one way of doing things - of going
about the complex process of organizing human activities."
Edmund Wade Davis (2003)
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NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
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A
web-based curriculum designed to
clearly present contemporary
scientific understanding as it is. |
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RESOURCE OBJECTIVES
CLEARLY PRESENT OUR
CONTEMPORARY SCIENTIFIC
UNDERSTANDING
۰
READILY ADMIT THE
LIMITS OF OUR UNDERSTANDING
۰
INDICATE
AREAS OF ACTIVE RESEARCH
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While
scientific research seeks,
ultimately, to glean an objective
understanding of ourselves and our
world; all scientific researchers -
including those recognized as
contemporary, or experimental,
researchers, are products of human
culture, and therefore inherently
subjective in how they conduct such
research.
That
being said, it is important to note
that the mere presence of
subjectivity does not warrant the
dismissal of the scientific
understanding we have accumulated
thus far. Rather, it should
merely serve to remind us that there
remains a great deal that we do not
yet understand. Within the
context of contemporary scientific
research, our subjectivities are
most apparent in the fundamental
assumptions which comprise the
underlying theory from which all of
our derived understanding extends.
These assumptions are that all
physical systems are subject to the
same material rules that appear to
govern all of nature, and that as
evolutionary systems, these systems
are (without exception) the products
of natural selection.
While
these assumptions have allowed for a
great deal of technological and
theoretical advancements; a
comprehensive understanding of the
causal relationships between
the innumerable systems and
phenomena which comprise the breadth
of human experience remains elusive.
US
illustrator and anatomist Frank Netter once
remarked that unlike writers, artists cannot
write around those concepts and
phenomena which are not fully understood.
While most traditional academic curricula
make use of statistical models, and words
such as generally, occasionally,
etcetera to avoid admitting the
limits of our contemporary understanding,
the research-based curricula published
herein shall seek to clearly indicate the
beliefs which we hold regarding ourselves
and our world, as well as addressing the
question of why we hold these
beliefs.
In other
words, we shall seek to present our
understanding of ourselves and our world as
it is!
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