SCIE 326 UNIT 1-8 FOR MIDTERM FINAL EXAM COMPLETE GUIDE EXAM WITH ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2023 Athabasca University

SCIE 326 UNIT 1-8 FOR MIDTERM FINAL EXAM COMPLETE GUIDE EXAM WITH ACTUAL QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 2023 Athabasca University Unit 1 1. State three significant differences between the scientific and religious approaches to the world. Science attempts to bring coherence to our experiences while religion attempts to infuse our experiences with meaning. Science is conveyed in terms which can be precisely defined and described to someone else. Religious experiences are often private or individual and a person might be incapable of conveying the real experience. Science is concerned with discovering new and improved ways of understanding the world and is continually subject to revision in light of new ideas or evidence. Religion is concerned with knowing eternal truths and are not subject to revision. 2. Write a short essay (300-500 words) contrasting the scientific and religious senses of the word “meaning,” as described in Chapter 9 of What Science Is. The scientific sense of the word meaning lies in the essence of what it describes. Scientific statements are made to describe sensory information and convey a picture to another person. Scientific statements are made about nature and how certain processes work. The meaning behind these statements defines what is naturally occurring. The goal of scientific statements is to describe meaning in the context of ‘how’; how does a river flow? How do leaves turn color? The religious sense of the word meaning lies in how the author feels and the experiences they have. Religious meaning attempts to bring significance to a person’s life or the universe. The goal of religious statements is to describe meaning in the broad context of ‘why’; why does a river flow? Religion is concerned with transcendence. 3. Write a short essay (300-500 words) discussing a question of public concern involving some aspect of science or technology. The question of climate change or global warming has been a hot topic in the last few years with some country’s government leaders working towards energy efficient ways to combat climate change and other country leaders downright refusing to acknowledge the issue at all. There are many different organizations that have well documented scientific data that proves that the Earth’s temperature is rising. These scientists have postulated that it will cause melting of the ice caps or ‘land ice’. This land ice will then give way into the ocean causing a rise of sea level to potentially catastrophic levels. Significant rising of the sea level threatens entire ecosystems or even species. Rising water levels on coastal areas will threaten those who live in those areas at a rate too fast for most to compensate or evolve. The rising global temperatures provide a backdrop for increasing intensity and rate of tropical storms. The tropical storms will add to destruction of coastal habitats and life of more than just humans. Animal and plant species risk becoming extinct. Many of these species are vital for human food and consumption. There are many people who state that global warming is not at a rate high enough to be concerned; or even that it is a non-issue. These people, and many are scientists, are critiquing the methods that are being used to deduce the causation of global warming to global catastrophe. The earth has been around for about 4.5 billion years while the earliest accounts of human remains are dated only to 200,000 years ago. Humans who possess the knowledge, skill and equipment to properly record, analyze and examine such a topic of global warming have inhabited the Earth for a much less period of time. Global warming itself has only been a topic of interest for perhaps 50-100 years. These timelines are what global warming critiques are focusing on. The ability, or lack thereof, of humans to be able to accurately observe and scrutinize the issue when humans themselves have not been present on Earth for the majority of its lifespan. 4. Give examples from your own life of times when you have acted in accordance with the three moral qualities that are involved in the inductive attitude. Intellectual courage – to be ready to revise any one of our beliefs Intellectual honesty – to be willing to change a belief when there is a compelling reason to change it Wise restraint – not to change beliefs capriciously, without good reason. 5. Find at least six cases from newspapers, magazines or television in which an unsubstantiated overt or covert appeal to science is used to sell a product. 6. List three main themes treated in the book Prisons We Choose to Live Inside. How do these themes relate to public misunderstandings of science? Society – Society as a whole has shown repeatedly that it will follow the masses despite adequate evidence to the contrary. If scientific information is misinterpreted and spread; others will follow and believe it if the source is considered likeable or trustworthy. Continues...