experiments – SENSEational science

There is a philosophical theory about whether things truly exist or not, called solipsism. The main thrust of this theory that we can only be sure of our own existence, not of the existence of anything or anyone outside of us.

A truly solipsistic person can never know whether the people that they meet are real or just figments of their imagination. For all the solipsist knows, they are just a brain floating in a tank, experiencing whatever stimuli are zapped into their vestigial spinal cord.

Solipsists are rarely fun at parties, not least because they can’t be sure that anyone else has actually shown up.

Perhaps that’s a little unfair to solipsism, but this theory brings up an interesting question.

Can we ever be sure that anyone else experiences the world the way we do?

Continue reading “Is Everyone Else A Robot? The Problem Of Consciousness”

Previously this blog has covered why multiple experiments are often needed before we can feel confident in a finding. But how exactly are experiments made in the first place?

This article is a walkthrough of the basic steps common to almost every scientific experiment. There will be a lot of sidestepping of some issues to keep it simple, but feel free to look those sore spots up!

Not all scientific research involves experiments of course. Plenty of scientists work with archival experimental data – data that have been collected by researchers in the past (data is actually plural, the singular is datum!). Many areas of science use techniques that don’t involve experiments at all, like zoology field work where scientists just watch how animals behave.

For now though, let’s just think about the parts of science that do use experiments.

What is an experiment anyway?

A traditional view of an experiment would require a few different parts to be present. There needs to be an idea that is being investigated, this is the theory. Then this needs to be made into a more specific question, the hypothesis. From this, a particular method is chosen. Once the method has been completed there will be results, which are largely just numbers. These are interpreted into the conclusions, also called the discussion section.

Continue reading “How is an Experiment Created? A walkthrough with help from some birds”