The Final Countdown

I’m going to walk away from this class with more than a couple of things to think about. I like the idea that science can be broken down along a number of axes, which we’ve done extensively in our work. Normally, I’m only focused on the facts, which in my case are generally numbers. So, it’s particularly interesting to map out how these facts have come to be, and what they might mean to various factions. More importantly, it’s interesting to see how these factions use the facts to their advantage.

Latour’s seeing devices and black boxes are also intriguing to me. They are both used extensively in my other studies, so seeing how they operate from an observer’s perspective is thought provoking. Being able to accurately measure things is a large-ish part of what I do in a scientific capacity. In a way, engineering is kind of like making the seeing devices and promptly black boxing them. Sometimes simply figuring out how to measure things accurately is challenging enough, let alone actually measuring them and using the data productively. Thinking about this stuff definitely solidifies for me the idea that an engineer is only as good as their tools, but it makes me question the accuracy of our tools. So how do we make better tools?

I’m also going to walk away from this class with a heightened awareness of the economics of science: Does he who pays determine what the science should say? Because we still get to do science regardless of the source of funding, do we, as scientists, even care? If we do care, how do we reconcile the fact that money does influence and modify our work? If we don’t, should we at least be conscious of how our work will influence society at large?

These are just a few of the things that came to mind when I thought about my experience here this semester. Given the sheer amount of ground we covered here, there are months or years worth of material that I think would be interesting and worthwhile to discus. I think I will come away from this class with more questions than answers. This is in no way a gripe; it’s very much a good thing.

To aid you in your transition to summer and to indulge your life-long love of 80's butt-rock:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jK-NcRmVcw