I'm trying to write a critical analysis paper that addresses a problem in motivational science. Since science largely ignores the spiritual component, I think this would be an acceptable topic with an abundance of information available. I need to (a) to identify and explain the arguments that the relevant authors are making with respect to a singular research problem (not a singular empirical article); and (b) to provide your own arguments about those arguments. I'd be happy to hear your thoughts...
Nice Idea Linda McKinley , The thing is that science is about evidence proof and confirmed results of studies on the other hand spirituality depends mostly on believe. If you are interested in this i recommend to search for Scientific Miracles in different religious scriptures and take it from there. good luck.
Dear Linda:
Your question has two major problems to begin with, from a critical (scientific) point of view. The first is that you have set up a straw man called "science" that is so broad and vague that it won't be of much use as a category for analysis. You would be better off criticizing specific research, where there are concrete perspectives and arguments that you could get a handle on. The second is that the question itself assumes two answers that are not by any means evident (this is often called "begging the question"): (1) that "science" as a whole ignores "inner force or spirit" (whatever you may take that to be), and (2) that this "inner force or spirit" exists beyond cultural or individual belief systems. If you consider spiritual forces as parts of belief systems, then they are not ignored by all scientific disciplines, as there has been a lot of research on this subject from scientists working in the fields of anthropology, history, the cognitive sciences, or from inter-, multi-, and transdisciplinary perspectives. For further reading on critical thinking from a scientific perspective, including brief discussions of fallacies like straw man arguments and begging the question, I am providing a link to an excerpt from Carl Sagan's book The demon-haunted world: science as a candle in the dark, with his "Baloney detection kit": http://www.inf.fu-berlin.de/lehre/pmo/eng/Sagan-Baloney.pdf
Best regards,
David
I believe that science still has room for spiritual things. What comes under parapsychology is more into the spiritual component in my opinion.
Dear Lasni:
Parapsychology was originally a scientific endeavor, until researchers realized that its basic assumptions were flawed, and the field was taken over by charlatans and naive amateurs. What is left is widely classified as pseudoscience, because it generally ignores the basic ground rules of science. The link I posted here yesterday, to Carl Sagan's "baloney detection kit," explains how to distinguish science from pseudoscience. Also useful, as a quick introduction, is James Lett's article, "A field guide to critical thinking": https://skepticalinquirer.org/1990/01/a-field-guide-to-critical-thinking/
A comparison of astronomer Sagan's tool kit to anthropologist Lett's field guide shows that there is a common core to the scientific perspective, valid across disciplines usually classified as "natural" and "social" sciences. As a transdisciplinary researcher, I don't make such a distinction, as I see humans and all that we are, do, create, and think as a part of a larger dynamic system that we can call "nature." Nature encompasses everything, so the concept "supernatural" is meaningless, a vestige of ancient and medieval paradigms that are quickly fading into the realm of the history of ideas.
You may be interested in the story of Susan Blackmore, who started as a parapsychologist, realized it was a dead end, and continued as a researcher of the phenomenon of consciousness. She has an interesting web site: https://www.susanblackmore.uk/
Warm regards,
David
Dear Linda
Thanks for the beautiful and interesting study. Please inbox me. I've some very interesting groups of spiritual healers, some of them are often visited by different spirits from out there, probably 'ETs'. I've had good opportunity to ask a couple of them questions related to religion, the holy book and other personalities in the spiritual realms & the answers I got are quite intriguing. Probably it's time to put science in these spiritual encounters so that the inner force or spirit begins to gain documentations and eventually, visibility. Here's my email: [email protected].
Hi everyone,
Thank you for the replies, and links. Please send more readings or links if it occurs to you.
Best,
Linda
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