What if there were a way for science—the most comprehensive and powerful system we have for making sense of the world—to explain the innermost stirrings of your heart? To teach you how and why you believe what you do, and how to communicate these values more effectively to others? What if science could show us how to build a better, stronger society?

Two words, friends: Social sciences. In this sequel to “The scientific method: Is it a thing?”, Jocelyn and Bradley explore the reasons why the social sciences are sometimes marginalized by and within the broader scientific community. They discuss what it means to have a “testable hypothesis,” and how the ideology of reductionism hinders our scientific understanding of complex phenomena. The hosts also point out the questionable, unscientific(!) assumptions that underlie the effort to separate humans from nature, and the human sciences from the so-called natural sciences. Ultimately, this episode showcases the power and promise of the social sciences, arguing that when we view them as separate from and less than “real” science, we do so to the detriment of ALL science.

Science is for Everyone (Episode #35):
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/35-discussion-science-is-for-everyone/id1471423633?i=1000466778549

The scientific method: Is it a thing? (Episode #54):
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/54-discussion-the-scientific-method-is-it-a-thing/id1471423633?i=1000485209730

Case control and cohort studies:
https://www.students4bestevidence.net/blog/2017/12/06/case-control-and-cohort-studies-overview/

xkcd, “Purity”: https://xkcd.com/435/

xkcd, “Science”: https://xkcd.com/54/

“What Isaac Asimov Taught Us About Predicting the Future”: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/31/books/review/isaac-asimov-psychohistory.html

Particles for Justice letter: https://www.particlesforjustice.org/letter

“Plandemic and the Seven Traits of Conspiratorial Thinking”: https://youtu.be/Rban0JGEimE

Science Communication journal: https://journals.sagepub.com/home/scx