3.3.5: Contemporary Worldview
The Contemporary mosaic will probably look more familiar to us than its predecessors. It includes, after all, the theories and methods taught at the very universities you’re attending. We have borne the Contemporary mosaic since about the 1920s. It includes accepted theories like neuroscience, quantum mechanics, special and general relativity, and cosmology, which we will consider in more depth below, in addition to the theories of evolutionary biology, genetics, chemistry, psychology, sociology, economics, and history… (Barseghyan et al., 2018).
In this lecture, Dr. Barseghyan explores the foundations behind some of the shifts behind our understanding of the natural world. Recent transitions include the scientific consensus around how matter behaves–neuroscience and quantum mechanics. You can follow along with the chapter as well.
Read: Chapter 10: Contemporary Worldview // University of Toronto Open E-Text
Guiding Questions:
- Did anything surprise you?
- Are there any explanations for changes in electron behavior in our current mosaic?
- Was theology part of the scientific mosaic? If so, when and why was it removed? According to this video, should it have been removed?
Video Credit: Barseghyan, H. (2015). Lectures on History and Philosophy of Science. Lecture 10. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Dwuv42_bl8.
Online Text: Barseghyan, H.; Overgaard, N. & Rupik, G. (2018). Introduction to History and Philosophy of Science. Available at https://ecampusontario.
Thumbnail: Neurons, In Vitro Color. Photo Credit: Mr. McGill, 2008. CC BY-NC 2.0.
