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Scientific knowledge is tentative.
Scientific knowledge is tentative.
Nothing (including scientific knowledge) can provide absolute certainty.
However, scientific conclusions are still valuable "because of the way that knowledge eventually comes to be accepted in science” (Source 1, p. 25).
Change is a good thing.
Change is a good thing.
The tentative nature of scientific knowledge is an asset, not a failing. It means that scientific knowledge is constantly being updated and that incomplete or incorrect understandings can be corrected (Source 2).
An example: Pluto
An example: Pluto
Pluto Big Heart in Colour (PIA19708) by NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute.
How (and why) has our understanding of Pluto changed?
How (and why) has our understanding of Pluto changed?
Before 2006, Pluto was considered a planet. Then, in 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) reclassified Pluto as a "dwarf planet" because it did not meet all three criteria that the IAU used to define a planet. (Source: Library of Congress)
Also, prior to 2015, scientists thought Pluto was an "inert ball of ice," but then data from NASA's 2015 New Horizons spacecraft changed everything. We now know Pluto has a giant heart shaped glacier, mountains, and red snow!
(Source: NASA https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/dwarf-planets/pluto/overview/)
Over time, the ways scientists classify / describe phenomena can change, and as new evidence becomes available, scientific understanding changes too!
It relates to open-mindendess.
It relates to open-mindendess.
Scientists must be open minded to consider how their current understanding might need to change as new evidence becomes available.
Developing open-mindedness is important for us, too!
Being able to make informed decisions means that we need to value the "truth" of something more than our need to hold on to a particular idea or way of thinking.
Click here for more on open-mindedness and scientific thinking.
Sources:
McComas, W. F. (2004). Keys to teaching the nature of science: Focusing on the nature of science in the science classroom. The Science Teacher, 71(9), 24-27.
Oreskes, N. (2019). Why Trust Science? Princeton University Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvfjczxx
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