University of the West IDS 330 "Environmental Leadership" Lecture 2

1. Science, Reason,
Epistemology and Epidemiology
Tom Moritz
IDS 330 Fall, 2020
University of the West

2. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Duck/

3. The Peace of Wild Things
by Wendell Berry
When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake rests in his beauty
on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light for a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
https://onbeing.org/blog/wendell-berry-the-peace-of-wild-things/

4. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/lifehistory

5. Definitions:
• What is “epistemology” ? The study of knowledge processes
• What is “ontology” ? The study of conceptual structures of “reality”
• “First person ontology” (John Searle, UCB)
• “Third person ontology” (science)
https://faculty.wcas.northwestern.edu/~paller/dialogue/csc1.pdf
SEE: “Consciousness” by John R. Searle

6. The “Progress”
of Scientific Knowledge…?

7. Utrilla, P.; Mazo, C.; Sopena, MªC.; Martínez-Bea, M. & Domingo, R. 2009:
"A palaeolithic map from 13,660 calBP: engraved stone blocks from the Late
Magdalenian in Abauntz Cave (Navarra, Spain)".
Journal of Human Evolution, 57: 99-111.
Earliest Known “Map”?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/5978900/Worlds-
oldest-map-Spanish-cave-has-landscape-from-14000-years-ago.html

8. “Micronesian stick charts show wave patterns and currents. The shells represent
atolls and islands. Using stick charts (also called rebbelibs, medos, and mattangs)
ancient mariners successfully navigated thousands of miles of the South Pacific
Ocean without compasses, astrolabes, or other mechanical devices.”
http://education.nat
ionalgeographic.com
/education/media/m
icronesian-stick-
chart/?ar_a=1

9. Yi-Fu Tuan, Topophilia p.35

10. Saturn images courtesy of R J Robbins and The Research Coordinating Network for the Genomics Standards Consortium…

11. Saturn images courtesy of R J Robbins and The Research Coordinating Network for the Genomics Standards Consortium…

12. https://www.nasa.gov/images/content/60030main_cassini-concept-browse.jpg

13. http://www.nytimes.com/1992/
10/31/world/after-350-years-
vatican-says-galileo-was-right-it-
moves.html

14. Microscopes and Telescopes

15. http://www.nanolab.ucla.edu/pdf/Introduction_to_EM_booklet_July_10.pdf

16. http://www.nanolab.ucla.edu/pdf/Introduction_to_EM_booklet_July_10.pdf

17. https://www.dropbox.com/s/9ozz6qd3dw4bggr/Screensho
t%202016-01-14%2014.46.32.png?dl=0

18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeWHYXzOzoA

19. Caption: Composite image of beta-galactosidase showing how cryo-EM’s
resolution has improved dramatically in recent years. Older images to the
left, more recent to the right.
Credit: Veronica Falconieri, Subramaniam Lab, National Cancer Institute
http://directorsblog.nih.gov/2016/01/14/got-it-down-cold-cryo-electron-microscopy-named-method-of-the-year/

20. Scientific Knowledge and “Religious Belief”?

21. Scientific Knowledge and “Religious Belief”?
Both religion and science are considered “ways of knowing” As scientific knowledge has
advanced, there has been increased friction between science and religion. This friction
is largely attributable to the scientific critique of supernatural phenomena or other non-
rational / non-empirical forms of belief -- unsupported by scientific understanding and
hypotheses concerning reality) Conflicts between religion and science may be understood
as a clash between objective knowledge and subjective belief.
One recurring conflict has been over the place of the earth in the universe. A second
longstanding conflict has been over the origins of life on earth (the “creationism” debate
– and The Scopes Trial -- an historical instance of this debate was famously depicted in
the film “Inherit the Wind” [SEE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053946/ ].
Specifically, there may be frictions between science ( and medicine) and religion at the
institutional level – for example in hospitals or clinics. This problem has been apparent in
cases where religious belief may conflict with scientific or medical best practice. A
notorious example occurred early in the history of organ transplants in the case of “Baby
Fae” {SEE for ex.: “Baby Fae: the Unlearned Lessons of Evolution”
http://www.conradaskland.com/blog/2007/07/baby-fae-the-unlearned-lesson-of-evolution/
In his book Rocks of Ages -- The scientist and writer, Stephen J Gould proposed the concept
of “NOMA” (“Non-Overlapping Magisteria”) as an effort to mediate the conflict between
Biblical and scientific explanations of the origins of life. [SEE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-
overlapping_magisteria ]

22. “Ways of Knowing”
Both religion and science are considered “ways of knowing”.
As scientific knowledge has advanced, there has been increased friction between science
and religion.
This friction is largely attributable to the scientific critique of supernatural phenomena or
other non-rational / non-empirical forms of belief – forms unsupported by scientific
understanding or by hypotheses concerning reality.
Conflicts between religion and science may be understood as a clash between objective
knowledge and subjective belief.

23. “Inherit the Wind”
“One recurring conflict has been over the place of the earth in the
universe.
A second longstanding conflict has been over the origins of life on earth
(the “creationism” debate – and The Scopes Trial -- an historical
instance of this debate was famously depicted in the film “Inherit the
Wind”
[SEE: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053946/ ].

24. “Baby Fae”
This is not an abstract problem. Specifically, there may be frictions between
science ( and medicine) and religion at the institutional level – for example
in hospitals or clinics. This problem has been apparent in cases where
religious belief may conflict with scientific or medical best practice.
A notorious example occurred early in the history of organ transplants in the
case of “Baby Fae”
“…they queried Bailey on the issue of why he had chosen a baboon in view of the
baboon’s evolutionary distance from humans. Bailey replied, ‘Er, I find that
difficult to answer. You see, I don’t believe in evolution.’ ”
SEE for ex.: “Baby Fae: the Unlearned Lessons of Evolution”
http://www.conradaskland.com/blog/2007/07/baby-fae-the-unlearned-lesson-of-
evolution/

25. “NOMA: Non-Overlapping Magisteria”
In his book Rocks of Ages -- The scientist and writer,
Stephen J Gould proposed the concept of “NOMA”
(“Non-Overlapping Magisteria”) as an effort to mediate
the conflict between Biblical and scientific explanations
of the origins of life.
[SEE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-overlapping_magisteria ]

26. A Model for Epistemology

27. Definitions:
“Epistemology”: “ The theory of knowledge, especially
with regard to its methods, validity, and scope.
Epistemology is the investigation of what
distinguishes justified belief from opinion.”
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/epistemology
“Ontology”: “The branch of metaphysics dealing with
the nature of being.”
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/ontology

28. “Ontological Perspectives”
“3rd person ontology” is the presumed realm of science (scientific
knowledge is held to be “invariant” and “objective” – hence “true” --
and grows by accretion over decades or centuries…)

29. “1st Person Ontology”?
“We must philosophize, said . . . Aristotle—if only to avoid
philosophizing. Every [one] has a metaphysics, and has to have one;
and it will influence his life greatly. Far better, then, that that
metaphysics should be criticized and not be allowed to run loose.”
—Charles Saunders Peirce

30. Physics
Biology
Cognitive StudiesSocial Sciences
Engineering
Problem Domain of
“CONSCIOUSNESS”
Personal
PERCEPTION
Personal
“VALUATION”
(Selection by Memory
)
Personal REASON
Personal
EXPRESSION
Problem Domain of
“AESTHETICS”
”First Person Ontology”
Personal
“INTUITION”

31. Meta-cognition -- Descartes: “Cogito
ergo sum”
“I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no
minds, no bodies. Does it now follow that I too do not exist? No: if I convinced myself of
something then I certainly existed. But there is a deceiver of supreme power and cunning
who is deliberately and constantly deceiving me. In that case I too undoubtedly exist, if
he is deceiving me; and let him deceive me as much as he can, he will never bring it
about that I am nothing so long as I think that I am something. So after considering
everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that this proposition, I am, I exist, is
necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind.” (Med. 2, AT
7:25)
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes-epistemology/#4

32. Letter: Charles Darwin to Alfred Russell Wallace May 1, 1857
” …it is lamentable how each man draws his own
different conclusions from the very same fact.”
http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-2086
Darwin Correspondence Project

33. Physics
Biology
Cognitive StudiesSocial sciences
Engineering
Problem Domain of
“CONSCIOUSNESS”
”Third Person Ontology”?
With presumed values of OBJECTIVITY and INVARIANCE
Mathematics
/ Statistics

34. World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO)
“Knowledge Pyramid”
http://www.wipo.int/global_ip/en/knowledge_gap.html

35. Repatriation of biodiversity information through Clearing House Mechanism of the Convention on Biological Diversity and Global
Biodiversity Information Facility; Views and experiences of Peruvian and
Bolivian non-governmental organizations. Ulla Helimo Master’s Thesis University of Turku Department of Biology 6.10. 2004
p.11. http://enbi.utu.fi/Documents/Ulla%20Helimo%20PRO%20GRADU.pdf [06-06-05]
“KNOWLEDGE RESOURCES”:
TechnologyInsight

36. The Kalama Sutta
“…any view or belief must be tested by the results it yields when put
into practice; and — to guard against the possibility of any bias or
limitations in one's understanding of those results — they must
further be checked against the experience of people who are wise. The
ability to question and test one's beliefs in an appropriate way is
called appropriate attention.” – Thanissaro Bhikkhu (Translator’s Note”)
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.065.than.html

37. Scientific Method:
“Organized Skepticism”

38. The Scientific Method:
The scientific method includes:
Observation
Hypothesis Formulation
Choose methods of analysis
Data collection
Analysis: Hypothesis testing
Hypothesis acceptance or
rejection
Report results

39. “Objectivity” and “Invariance” ?

40. “…1596 by the Dutch map maker Abraham Ortelius in
his work Thesaurus Geographicus. Ortelius suggested
that the Americas were ‘torn away from Europe and
Africa . . . by earthquakes and floods’ and went on to
say: ‘The vestiges of the rupture reveal themselves, if
someone brings forward a map of the world and
considers carefully the coasts of the three
[continents].’ "

41. “Alfred Lothar Wegener (1880-1930), the originator of the theory of
continental drift. (Photograph courtesy of the Alfred Wegener
Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany.) “
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/wegener.html
“Wegener's scientific vision sharpened in 1914 as he
was recuperating in a military hospital from an injury
suffered as a German soldier during World War I.
While bed-ridden, he had ample time to develop an
idea that had intrigued him for years. Like others
before him, Wegener had been struck by the
remarkable fit of the coastlines of South America and
Africa. But, unlike the others, to support his theory
Wegener sought out many other lines of geologic
and paleontologic evidence that these two
continents were once joined. During his long
convalescence, Wegener was able to fully develop his
ideas into the Theory of Continental Drift, detailed in
a book titled Die Entstehung der Kontinente und
Ozeane (in German, The Origin of Continents and
Oceans) published in 1915.”

42. Plate Tectonics:
“Developing the Theory”
“ …four major scientific developments spurred the formulation
of the plate-tectonics theory
(1) demonstration of the ruggedness and youth of the ocean
floor;
(2) confirmation of repeated reversals of the Earth magnetic field
in the geologic past;
(3) emergence of the seafloor-spreading hypothesis and
associated recycling of oceanic crust; and
(4) precise documentation that the world's earthquake and
volcanic activity is concentrated along oceanic trenches and
submarine mountain ranges”
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/developing.html

43. Mid-Oceanic Ridges
“What is the mid-ocean ridge?”
“The mid-ocean ridge is the most extensive chain of mountains on
Earth, stretching nearly 65,000 kilometers (40,390 miles) and with
more than 90 percent of the mountain range lying in the deep ocean.”
https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/mid-ocean-ridge.html

44. Mid-Oceanic Ridges
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780123859389000213
https://www.britannica.com/science/oceanic-ridge

45. “As noted by Snider-Pellegrini and Wegener, the locations of certain fossil plants and
animals on present-day, widely separated continents would form definite patterns
(shown by the bands of colors), if the continents are rejoined.”
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/continents.html

46. “According to the
continental drift theory, the
supercontinent Pangaea
began to break up about
225-200 million years ago,
eventually fragmenting into
the continents as we know
them today”
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynami
c/historical.html

47. “The layer of the Earth we live on is broken into a dozen or so rigid slabs (called tectonic plates by
geologists) that are moving relative to one another.”
http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/dynamic/slabs.html

48. Applying Knowledge:
“Public Reason” and
the Rule of Law

49. “Public Reason” ???

50. “The idea of public reason specifies at the deepest level
the basic moral and political values that are to
determine a constitutional democratic government's
relation to its citizens and their relation to one
another. In short, it concerns how the political
relation is to be understood. “
John Rawls “The Idea of Public Reason Revisited,”
The University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 64, No. 3 (Summer, 1997), pp. 765-807
John Rawls: “Public Reason”

51. The inter-personal domain
of public reason
is also the domain
of ‘third person ontology’
(the definitive construct
for scientific data / evidence)

52. “Evidence”?“Data having dispositive (decisive probative) value
(in terms of applicable rules of evidence),
being demonstrably valid
(i.e. well supported by scientific logic)
and having technically demonstrable integrity.”
Tom Moritz “The Burden of Proof”
GRDI2020 Position Paper October 23-24, 2010

53. Data as Evidence:
• “Evidence” assumes probative force
• Clear distinctions between “rules of evidence” applied in different domains: (i.e.
appropriate fitness for use within domains)
– In science pure/applied
– In law (forensics)
– In policy formation (deliberation/legislation/ law)
– In regulation (administrative code, enforcement, professional/ industrial norms )
– In survey and monitoring
– In decision-making
• Journalistic: corroboration and review (including letters to editor)
• Politics
++++++++++++++++
• “Peer review” / professional consensus in various forms is arbiter (academy, profession,
discipline, jury, review board, public…)
• “Independence” / “impartiality” is essential quality of such reviews

54. Domains of Knowledge/ “Rules of Evidence”?
• Research Science:
– professional/disciplinary standards
– peer review / certification
– citation
• Regulatory Science: (code)
• Survey and monitoring
• Decision Making
• Law/Forensics:
– Codified “Rules of Evidence”
– Precedent/ judicial review
– “Reasonable Doubt” (the “clear conscience” standard)
• Deliberation /Policy Formation (polemical/rhetorical)
• Journalistic: corroboration and review (including letters to editor)
• “Politics” – elections, etc.
++++++++++++++++
• Religious: authority (textual and clerical) and testimonials (evidence of miracles)

55. Existing scientific conventions and practices:
• Admission to scientific programs
• Academic performance
• Internships, “apprenticeships” , “post-docs”
• Awarding degrees
• Hiring, promotion and tenure
• Collegiality and mentoring (personal communications)
• Editorial board reviewing
• Grant Reviewing
• Book reviews
• Citation
• Letters / Notes
• Blogs and recommender-style “commenting”
• Annotation
• Appointments, awards, prizes and other recognition
Scientific Research: forms of confirmative consensus / peer review
(“organized skepticism”) and “jurying” in science:

56. Disregarding
Validity???
(or assuming it can
be inferred?)
An example from
wildlife
management
Page image is from
“Road Ecology” RTT
Forman et al. Island
Press, 2002
SEE:
http://www.indiebound.
org/book/97815596393
30
No Stated hypothesis as basis
for defining valid data-types

57. Source: Voss & Emmons, AMNH Bull. No. 230, 1996
(by permission)
An exemplar of the possible range of data types available as “evidence” – in this case, that a zoological
survey has generated comprehensive results… Note: an inclusive combination of evidence types is ideally
necessary to optimize the evidentiary force of a survey…
COMPREHENSIVE VALIDITY???
Comprehensive set of data types

58. “Generic Competence”
of Data
(from the National Atomic Testing
Museum, Las Vegas)

59. March 29, 2012
“A pine cone was tucked away in the lower-
right corner of the cable box junction behind
one of the data servers. There, two cables were
chewed up, taking down 252 computers for
several hours last weekend.”
Photos by Les Cottrell
https://news.slac.stanford.edu/image/squirrel-was-here
“Data Cables Downed, not by Terabytes, but
Squirrel Bites”
by Diane Rezendes Khirallah March 29, 2012
“The alert came shortly after 11 a.m. on Saturday:
Blackbox 1, a modular data center behind Building
50 that handles 252 computers dedicated to SLAC’s
BaBar experiment, was down. Les Cottrell, SLAC’s
manager of networking and telecommunications,
went with network architect Antonio Ceseracciu
and technical coordinator Ron Barrett to
investigate and get the system back up and running
as fast as possible. The power was on, so the
problem was somewhere in the network
equipment or cables. To determine the precise
location, Ceseracciu ran a test that sends a pulse of
light to the far end of the cable. The pulse travels
down to the place where the cable is broken and
returns. By measuring how long this takes – much
as a bat measures distance by using sound waves
for echolocation – they ascertained that the
damaged area was 15 meters down the 100-meter
cable…”
BATS & SQUIRRELS AT SLAC

61. “Faster than light neutrinos: Heads roll“
March 30, 2012
“If you follow science at all (and maybe even if you don’t), you probably heard last year that
scientists had discovered neutrinos that travelled faster than light… If true, this would be a big
deal, knocking out laws of physics and causing dear doctor Einstein to roll in his grave, etc. What
most physicists said at the time was something like, ‘Well, if it is true, then it’s a wonderful
surprise, but it’s probably not true.’ It wasn’t true. It turned out that a faulty optical cable
connection had affected the GPS readings and thereby the speed of light calculations. Today
(March 30, 2012) it was announced that two leaders of the OPERA consortium, which conducted
the original experiment, resigned following a vote of no-confidence. Thus, unlike in some other
kinds of disasters – say financial collapse – scientists are willing and able to mete out
consequences. “
http://scitechstory.com/2012/03/30/faster-than-light-neutrinos-heads-roll/

62. Competent
Calibration
and
Deployment

66. “Keeping Raw Data in Context”
“…any initiative to share raw clinical research data must also pay close attention to sharing clear
and complete information about the design of the original studies. Relying on journal articles
for study design information is problematic, for three reasons. First, journal articles often
provide insufficient detail when describing key study design features such as randomization (1)
and intervention details (2). Second, some data sets may come from studies with no
publications [only 21% of oncology trials registered in ClinicalTrials.gov before 2004 and
completed by September 2007 were published (3)]. Finally, investigators cannot reliably search
journal articles for methodological concepts like “double blinding” or “interrupted time
series,” crucial concepts for proper interpretation of the data. A mishmash of non-standardized
databases of raw results and unevenly reported study designs is not a strong foundation for
clinical research data sharing. “
“ We believe that the effective sharing of clinical research data requires the establishment of an
interoperable federated database system that includes both study design and results data. A
key component of this system is a logical model of clinical study characteristics in which all the
data elements are standardized to controlled vocabularies and common ontologies to facilitate
cross-study comparison and synthesis. “
I Sim, et al. “Keeping Raw Data in Context”[letter] Science v 323 6 Feb 2009, p713.

67. Provenance
and
Workflow
Management

68. Fukushima?

69. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWzdgBNfhQU

70. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcQLxT49ZP0&app=desktop
“Fukushima radiation hits San Francisco? (Dec
2013)”
Published on Dec 24, 2013
This shocking video was taken December 23rd 2013 with a quality Geiger
Counter south of Pacifica State Beach (Surfers Beach) California.
768,696 views as of 1225 am 03 06 14

71. US EPA & Radiation Protection
http://www.epa.gov/radiation/basic/

72. “Fishing for data in the radioactive waters off
Fukushima”
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/safety-fishing-fukushima/

73. AGNOTOLOGY?

74. From “Agnotology” (RN Proctor & L Schiebinger Eds) Stanford University Press, 2008, p.1

75. “Self-Deception” The Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy
“…self-deception is the acquisition and maintenance of a belief (or, at least, the
avowal of that belief) in the face of strong evidence to the contrary motivated by
desires or emotions favoring the acquisition and retention of that belief. Beyond
this, philosophers divide over whether this action is intentional or not, whether
self-deceivers recognize the belief being acquired is unwarranted on the available
evidence, whether self-deceivers are morally responsible for their self-deception,
and whether self-deception is morally problematic (and if it is in what ways and
under what circumstances). “
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/self-deception/

76. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
“Self-Deception: Conclusion”
“…philosophers that we have considered all express serious concerns about the effects that self-
deception can have upon our moral lives… our moral reasoning is only effective when it responds
to the actual state of the world. And even when our moral reasoning is effective, self-deception
enables us to hide our true motivation from ourselves, or that which prompts and guides our
reasoning in the first place… self-deception is not limited to our desires, motives, and moral
deliberations: we can deceive ourselves about the state of the world, the people in it, and even
our own personality and bodily flaws. Self-deception, when practiced regularly, can serve as a
kind of global anesthetic that immunizes us against the maladies of life. Most philosophers
accept that severe and widespread self-deception is harmful and can lead to disastrous
results…”
http://www.iep.utm.edu/eth-self/#H5

77. Sisela Bok: “Secrecy and Self-Deception”
“How can one simultaneously know and ignore the same thing, hide it and
remain in the dark about it?... A number of psychiatrists have described all
unconscious material as secrets kept from the self by the self.”
“…clearly there are times when people are dangerously wrong about
themselves. The anorexic girl close to starving to death who thinks that
she looks fat in the mirror, and the alcoholic who denies having a drinking
problem, are both in need of help; yet the help can not consist merely in
interference, but must somehow bring about a recognition on their part of
their need and the role they play in not perceiving it accurately…
Judgments about when and how to try to help people one takes to be in
self-inflicted danger depend on the nature and the seriousness of the
danger, as well as on how rational one thinks they are…”
Sisela Bok, Secrets: On the Ethics of Concealment and Revelation,
“Chapter 5 “Secrecey and Self-Deception”

79. https://www.climaterealityproject.org/video/doubt

80. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxCQHn-w0Bw&feature=player_embedded

82. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/dunning-kruger-effect
“Dunning-Kruger
Effect”

84. Poder Politico y Conocimiento
ResponsabilidadyPoder Políticos
Administradores
o Gestores
Analistas-
Técnicos
Científicos
Conocimiento (en términos científicos-occidentales)
Bajo
Alto
Alto
(Sutton, 1999)
From: Organizaciones que aprenden, paises que aprenden: lecciones y AP en Costa Rica by Andrea
Ballestero Directora ELAP
???

85. https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/donald-trump-receives-briefing-on-california-wildfires-transcript-september-14

86. For example, consider: “Passion”
Reflecting on the situation in Ireland at the beginning of the 20th
Century, in his classic poem “The Second Coming” the Irish
poet William Butler Yeats wrote:
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.”
[SEE: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/172062 ]
Many people who become leaders are full of passion and by this
quality, connect emotionally of their community or group. But
passion without knowledge and wisdom can be very
dangerous…
Adolph Hitler, for ex, was a passionate speaker who was able to
move many Germans with this intensity… But he was also a
very unstable and unhealthy person…