mealypotatoes

Concerning methodology of social science, Hume makes one particularly striking claim: the human sciences are in a sense easier than natural sciences. A more common argument – due to Comte, perhaps, though my memory fails me – is that physics is simpler than chemistry, which is simpler than biology, then again simpler than psychology, and then social sciences, because each builds upon the other. I understand how particles work, hence understand physics, but I need to know how they interact to understand chemistry, how molecules affect lifeforms for biology, how the brain operates to understand psychology, and how brains and bodies interact with each other and history to understand social science. Hume flips this around entirely. He is an empiricist, and notes that to the extent we know anything, it is through our perceptions, and our own accounts as well as those of other humans are biased and distorted. To interpret perceptions of the natural world, we must first generalize about the human mind: “the science of man is the only solid foundation.” Concerning the social world, we are able to observe the actions and accounts of many people during our lives, so if we are to use induction (and this is Hume, so of course we are wary here), we have many examples from which to draw.

As a scientific naturalist, I gain my inspiration from overlaying my observations onto previous knowledge in my notebooks. At a glance, my journal seems to be a mess. It is not meant to be seen or read, except by me, and often not even that. When I write in it, it is usually in haste. I use any stray implement at hand. I have no system, no object or goal in mind. The notebook allows for spontaneity, a counterbalance to my ideal of orderly scientific objectivity. It is my wild side that explores without restraint, without inhibitions. Its value is usually derived less from its contents and more from the exercise of writing things down that forces me to pay attention and to remember. This process slows my thinking and serves as a first crude filter for the natural breeze of data that passes by in a continual stream.