Thought collectives
March 16, 2010“…we define ‘thought collective’ as a community of persons mutually exchanging ideas or maintaining intellectual interaction, we will find by implication that it also provides the special ‘carrier’ for the historical development of any field of thought, as well as for the given stock of knowledge and level of culture. This we have designated thought style” (Fleck 39).
In response to Ludwik Fleck’s “Genesis and Development of Scientific Fact,” here are different “thought collectives,” influenced by “thought styles” produced by the development of science and culture.
1) CO2 is causing global warming, apparent by our planet’s climate changes – collective held by many scientists and supported by National Geographic. The following information appears on NationalGeographic.com:
Average temperatures around the world are 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) higher than in 1880, increasing at a faster rate in more recent decades according to NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies. In fact, the last two decades were the hottest in 400 years according to climate studies.
Most of the effects can be seen in the Arctic, though average temperatures in Alaska, western Canada, and eastern Russia have also risen at twice the global average, according to a 2000-2004 multinational Arctic Climate Impact Assessment report. Arctic ice is melting at such rate that the region may have an ice-free summer earlier than 2040. Mountain snow and glaciers are melting at astonishing speeds. Montana’s Glacier National Park boasted 150 glaciers in 1910, but is now down to 27. In Northern Hemisphere, spring comes a week earlier and the first freeze, a week later.
Coral reefs are very sensitive to changes in water temperature. In 1998, some areas saw 70 percent death rates. In the next 50 years, scientists predict an increase in death rate frequency and intensity as sea temperatures continue to rise.
Lastly, an increase in extreme weather, such as wildfires, heatwaves and tropical storms is likely due to climate change, according to “some expert.” (National Geographic).
2. …The opposing argument – not only is Global Warming a hoax, but a politically motivated one. Watch this YouTube video. CO2, a natural gas produced and consumed by our planet’s living things, is falsely labeled a pollutant, it claims. It claims that even if CO2 were the cause of the rising temperatures, which the video also seeks to debunk in its play-time, man-made things and factories do not produce even a fraction of what is naturally produced.
So which thought collective is “fact”? Do the social and political states around the world determine what is determined “fact”? Are some “facts” more true than others? Are we missing BIG pieces to the puzzle?
Global warming was a very interesting concept to present as a scientific idea to consider when reflecting on Fleck, thought collectives, thought styles, and facts. Is global warming a fact even though it is presented as one? I consider global warming a fact, and have always rebutted any argument that said differently, yet you have, for the first time, influenced me to feel differently. In relationship to Fleck, I am inclined to ask myself now, “How do I know it is a fact? Who says it is a fact? How do they know it is a fact?” I’m afraid Fleck has made me a bit of a skeptic, something I have never been.
Very interesting post – presenting both sides (unfortunately no matter what channel you watch, the argument seems so slanted). It’s good that Fleck seems to have made us all think and be skeptical.