map of the problematique
Yes, I know both E and I have disappeared--well, more E than me. I'm back--sort of--with thisI am trying to re-write a paper that I need to present in less than two weeks' time. The paper itself is supposed to be given to the Conference organisers by Thursday. In between working on weekends (and on weekdays) to make, you know, actual money, paper-writing has taken a distant second. Today was my first day off in ages so I was doing some research. I did find this excellent (in the "I can't believe people write this" sense) article:
Apparently postmodernism (and, if you read the text, feminism) are threats to science and to Buddhism. Well, of course, yous might say. But, apparently, so is the sociology of scientific knowledge (SSK--the topic I'm working on). As the author kindly points out to us laypeople:
"The branch of sociology variously known as Sociology of Scientific Knowledge (SSK) or Science and Technology Studies (STS), had the objective of showing that the results of scientific findings did not represent any underlying reality, but were purely the ideology of dominant groups within society.
Consequently, if one held a sufficiently radical ideology, one could walk out of a sixth floor window and be immune to the effects of gravity."
Well, and I suppose no one actually told the SSK folks this because, shockingly, they don't appear to have understood the radical potential of their research. After all, all they seemed to be doing was to show that science is a social process--one that involved people and, as such, was fallible as well as based on sociocultural norms and historical understandings. What they were really doing was discovering a way to counter gravity.
Labels: anti-gravitational forces, how many scientists does it take to open a door?, SSK
posted by Priya @ 3:29 PM
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