When the Biologist “waived his hand dismissively,” at Wilson, I believe that this was a way of “looking down” on Wilson’s “soft” science area of practice.
Why did Wilson refer to himself as a “Little Leaguer”?
Often times the harder sciences have enjoyed a disproportionally large piece of the spot light for their accomplishments in science as it relates to human activities, in practice though I believe the soft sciences have offered “Functional” methods of working with human conditions, both as individuals and in groups. The “little leaguer” comment was Wilsons way of subtly jabbing back at the dismissive hand gesture.
2. What evidence does Wilson …show more content…
Why does Wilson talk about a program called Scared Straight?
Wilson discusses the Scared Straight program as a way social science has worked with the social outcomes of programs like scared straight, and after years of data the science led to changes and reduced use of programs like scared straight. I believe that in Wilson’s example of the Soft sciences being open to change and review and reinterpretation, is his way of identifying the strengths of the Social Sciences.
5. Wilson gives a nod to critics of the social sciences. This means that he briefly acknowledges a counterargument to his argument. What is it?
Wilson’s “nod” to his critics is best exemplified in the final paragraph of this article, in which Wilson points out that “Human behavior is complex, and it is not possible to conduct experiments to test all aspects of what people do or why. But there are entire disciplines dedicated to the experimental study of humans and they are tightly controlled and ethically acceptable ways.” Wilson is saying that the science of studying humans is very complex and those who choose to study them do so with the same ethics and safe guards and rigors that the “hard sciences”