Don’t ever confuse hard work with hard thinking.
—James Watson, Nobel laureate
One famous doctor says, “Eat mostly starches and little fats
or protein.” Another famous doctor claims, with equal vigor,
“Eat mostly protein, little starches or fats.” A third doctor argues against both of them by citing a research study indicating that Eskimos on a traditional diet high in saturated fats don’t get cardiovascular disease. Who is right? And what should you eat?
In aging and nutrition, as in every area of life, we find many different views, even among scientists. To make sensible use of life-extending techniques, we must be able to sift the seeds of truth from the chaff. This takes us back to the basic science called epistemology, the study of the sources of knowledge. Using the techniques we discuss here, you ll be much better able to decide between many competing claims for theories of aging and products for rejuvenation. Epistemology can help you to tell who’s right.
Epistemology is the study of the origins of knowledge; in other words, how you know what is right. With the many theories of health, nutrition, and aging being actively espoused today, it is easy to become confused and be unable to separate the useful from the absurd. Proper investigation of the sources of information is an essential step toward this goal.
The scientific method is an important and indispensable element in scientific epistemology. This tool is a procedure that allows scientists to distinguish facts from hypotheses, actualities from wishes and hopes. The basic ideas of the scientific method are these:
- Science begins with observation and description. Wherever possible, observations are recorded using numerical (quantitative) data for description. It is important to be aware of biases and preconceptions, since no scientist is entirely free of them. In fact, it is not possible to be bias-free, because in order to know what to observe, it is necessary to begin with some ideas (a hypothesis) concerning the phenomena being observed.
- Isolation of particular observations of interest requires that some parts of a phenomenon are neglected, while others are focused upon. Some problems are so complex (such as aging) that they must be analyzed; i.e., separated into a number of parts. Upon detailed study of the various parts, it may be possible at some point to synthesise, or put together, a model that includes the various parts.
- After collecting data, a scientist creates a hypothesis or
tentative model of the phenomenon. The basic business of science is to dispassionately test the hypothesis, not to “prove
it.” An ideal scientist would be just as happy to find no support for a hypothesis as to find support for it. In the first case a new hypothesis or a modification of the old one is needed. - Hypothesis formation also occurs before and during data collection. As more data are collected, hypotheses can be modified to reflect reality more accurately. A powerful tool in
science is known as Occam’s Razor (first formulated by William of Occam in the fourteenth century). This rule of thumb states that if two hypotheses fit the facts and one requires fewer assumptions than the other, the former hypothesis is more likely to be a true description of events. This guide has been proven mathematically in information theory. The creation of hypotheses depends upon inductive reasoning, which is the process of drawing inferences about a class of observations based on a sample of data points. - As E. Bright Wilson points out in An Introduction to Scientific Research, logic, or deductive reasoning, does not enter the picture until a hypothesis has been formulated. Various consequences of a hypothesis may be generated by logical thought processes. These logical consequences are then tested in the next step of the scientific method.
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