Need For Psychological Science
...scientific approach because of their faith in human intuition. Intuition can lead you astray. We presume that we could have foreseen what we know happened. Finding out something has happened makes it seem inevitable. Psychologists call this 20/20 hindsight vision the hindsight bias (the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it) also know as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon. Our everyday thinking is not limited to out after-the-fact common sense, but also by our human tendency to be overly confident.
The Scientific Attitude:
Underlying all science is a hard-headed curiosity, a passion to explore and understand without misleading or being mislead. When put to the test, can predictions be confirmed? This approach has a long history. For example: As ancient a figure as Moses used such an approach. How do you evaluate a self-proclaimed prophet? His Answer? Put the prophet to the test. If the predicted event "does not take place or prove true," then so much the worse for the prophet. (Deut. 18:22). Putting a scientific attitude into practice requires not only skepticism but also humility, because we may have to reject our own ideas. In the last analysis, what matters is not my opinion or yours, but the truths nature reveals in response to our questioning. Curiosity, skepticism, & humility helped make modern science possible. Scientists check and recheck one another's findings and conclusions. This scientific attitude prepares us to think smarter. Smart thinking, called critical thinking (thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions). Whether reading a news report or listening to a conversation, critical thinkers always ask questions. Has psychology's critical inquiry been open to surprising findings? The...
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