Musings
Originally posted at auromheim.net

In Norway, every university student has to take a course in philosophy. It’s supposed to teach you to question what you learn and think for yourself. I took the course last semester, and though I felt it was dull and pointless at the time, I’m coming to appreciate it more and more.

The course is supposed to be angled towards the field you’re studying, so for the MatNat faculty, the course, especially the latter half, was focused on the field of science. We learnt about paradigms, Popper, etc… The most interesting for me, though, was a brief mention of feminism in relations to science.

Newer theories on science have proposed that, even in natural sciences, you can’t have completely objective observations. The observer affects the object being observed. And, of course, the interpretation of what is being observed will be affected by the person observing.

Yes, there is a point in here somewhere. Up till the last century, scientists have, pretty much, been men. And if you buy into the whole “aggressive male” stereotype, you can see how it has affected the way natural processes are described.

In my Organic Chemistry book, there are a lot of descriptions of reactions, and reaction mechanisms. There’s a lot of talk of electrons “attacking” atoms. It’s a completely innocent way of describing what is happening, but it is also interesting to look at in connection to the previously mentioned male domination in natural sciences, and male/female stereotypes.

A woman might describe the electrons as “reaching out for” the atom?