Human Sciences And Natural Sciences

McKenna Kiiskila

Block 5

The way I perceive it, the human sciences are more like natural sciences rather than history. I believe this based on the definition of human sciences, the study and interpretation of the experiences, activities, constructs, and artifacts associated with human beings. The study of the human sciences attempts to expand and enlighten the human being's knowledge of his or her existence, its interrelationship with other species and systems, and the development of artifacts to perpetuate the human expression and thought. This is clearly stating that studying humans is the same as studying human relations with what is around them which I see as other species and systems. What makes up the perception and reality of a human being? Their surrounding.

The role of the observer and observed in the natural sciences is just like what it is in the human sciences. For example, in the natural sciences Charles Darwin studies evolution in species as Anthropologists study humans in certain populations. Study of the growth and change in these species or populations; the same type of research just different subjects. When talking about the role of the observed, I think the material that stood out most to me was of the Zimbardo documentary when talking about the studies of Stanley Milgram on how people responded to authority.  This was called the “Milgram Experiment” and volunteers were told that they were taking part in scientific research to improve memory. This was done to understand how events like the Holocaust could occur. There was a teacher and a leaner that was separated by a screen. The teacher would ask a series of questions and when the learner got a question wrong there was an administered electric shock to the learner. It was shown that 2/3 of the volunteers were ready to administer fatal electrical shocks from what they perceived to be a figure of authority – “the man in the white coat.” All it took was for the so-called scientist to say, “the experiment requires you to continue please go on.” This was a very disturbing finding for the American people because it showed that what seemed to be a group of civil Americans, were capable of doing what the German Nazi’s did during the Holocaust.

This can be seen in the sciences with animals, for example. When a population encounters a predator they adapt to blend in with their surroundings to survive – in other words, survival of the fittest. Charles Darwin’s idea of evolution in species shares similarities with the human race. An example is the finches he meticulously studied did on the Galapagos Islands how their beak sizes differed to reach food in different terrain.

There are also many ethical limitations in natural sciences as there are in natural sciences. This can be seen in the Stanford Prison Experiment when Zimbardo lost sight of what was reality and what was just his role at the prison. A similar example in the natural sciences is use of experimentation and prediction in regards to both quantitative and qualitative data in the area of chemistry. The study of both qualitative and quantitative data is of dire importance because of the way humans operate. Qualitative, when looking at the change in quality of things like school systems or health conditions. Quantitative, when looking at the change of numbers as in population as a whole or the number of disease stricken persons in a population. This is similar to the natural sciences because both quality and quantity is measured.

As it was said multiple times in my economics class last semester, “You have to look at the world assuming two fundamental assumptions; one, people have unlimited wants and two, there are limited inputs.” I think this relates to both the human and natural sciences because it is referring to how humans develop by using the resources they have. This idea will reveal patterns and trends in human development by showing how humans adapt overtime to changes in economy, for example. This is where the challenges of using experimental method/ prediction come into play because with a natural science like astronomy there are many uncertainties and when measuring and predicting in the human sciences.

I do not believe that the human and natural sciences are identical through and through, in fact there are many juxtaposing elements between the two. But I think if you look at the big picture and the way the two are studied there are many similarities. I think that the way we perceive our surroundings is what makes up our reality and our surroundings is what the natural sciences are.

W.C- 766