Models help or hinder the search for knowledge Essay Example

Models help or hinder the search for knowledge Essay A model is a representation of a complex structure or concept that is used to explain it and represent it in a more simplistic manner with the aim of facilitating the understanding of it. Models are used in a variety of subjects such as natural sciences, government structures, history and many more. Although they are simplified simulations, they provide a representation of reality that help our learning and understanding of the phenomena that occur. However, models have the possibility of leading us into an error or incorrect information and thus present limitations that have the potential of hindering the knowledge. Models can be broken down into four main categories. Experimental models which can be constructed and put to use in a laboratory. A ‘scale models would fit under this category, representing spatial relationships, and ‘working models’ representing temporal sequences. At the other end of the spectrum are logical models. These start from the axioms and theorems of a formal deductive system, they are used to illustrate abstract systems and provide a possible interpretation of it. Lastly, there are theoretical models. These are imaginative mental constructions made to conceptualize observed phenomena. They are usually imagined mechanisms that are described with analogies to familiar processes. For instance, in physics, the â€Å"billiard-ball model† of gas is a perfect example of a theoretical model. Although it is intended to represent an underlying structure of a physical system, it is merely a symbolic representation that is developed into a theory that explains the phenomena as a model. A relevant knowledge issue concerning theoretical models would: to what extend can models give a realistic and accurate representation of reality? We will write a custom essay sample on Models help or hinder the search for knowledge specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Models help or hinder the search for knowledge specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Models help or hinder the search for knowledge specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Consider a container full of a gas such as air and imagine that it is composed of minuscule elastic spheres bouncing around. It can be assumed that the mechanical behavior of the spheres is similar to the behavior of colliding billiard balls. From this assumption, a theory can be put forward, the one of Kinetic Theory of Gases that involves equations interrelating the velocity (p), mass (m), momentum and energy of the hypothetical spheres. None of these theoretical properties can be physically observed. On the other hand, some theoretical terms could be related to observable properties of the gas, for instance, a change in the momentum of the collision amongst particle with the containing wall may be identified as the pressure of the gas. These assumptions lead to Boyle’s Law stating that if the volume of a gas is reduced by 50% then the pressure of the gas will double. (e.g. compressing air during a bicycle jump). Hypothetical minuscule elastic spheres were assumed to have mass and velocity similarly to billiard balls do although no color. The analogies are not simply formal like they are in mathematics, they may be physical, elasticity and mass. In the creation of a theory, scientist may suggest a model incorporating analogies drawn from a variety of familiar situations combined with radically new assumptions. In the diagram below, all the lines going into the model are represented as dotted due to their origins lying in an act of creative imagination instead of making a purely logic based inference. Generally speaking, dotted arrows should be added coming in from other familiar situations, on the left. When imagining a model, there are explicit or implicit references to what is similar and previously intelligible, furthermore there is freedom allowing to interpret a phenomena in the desired model. It can be assigned to any property that are thought of as fruitful contributors to the theory. This depends on the perception of the scientist of the phenomena in question. Therefore, since theoretical models are based on a scientists interpretation of what they perceive and the analogy that is made to an already known model, models do not provide a fully reliable and accurate representation of reality. Theoretical models can further be perceived as subjective and self determined, thus the numerous debates and disagreements amongst scientists concerning more complex models. Theoretical models convey associations and implications that aren’t specifically determined and that may be transferred if a shit in paradigm occurs due to the application of a different analogy to the phenomena. Additional developments and modifications may be proposed.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"A metaphor proposes analogies between the familiar context of a word and a new context into which it is introduced †. Models can be compared to metaphors due their similar property of open-endedness. Max Black said that ‘It may help us to notice what would otherwise be overlooked and to shift the relative emphasis attached to details in short, to see new connections.† A model suggests new ways of perceiving a situation that presents problems by transferring some of the features of another given situation that is fully understood. The implications implied by the use of a metaphor to refer to a model is not merely subjective as it is employed by the majority of a community using a language. For instance, the use of an analogy that might not have been essential to the formulation of the model could potentially influence the development of the paradigm. Science, most often doesn’t recognize the line separating theoretical language from observational language; the distinction is relative to the situation and depends on the context. A close parallel between the interaction of metaphorical language and literal language can be made, there is a lack of division line between the two. ‘Billiard-ball model’ incites one to think about the whole kinetic gas model as a pool table and the movement of billiard balls. The term was initially introduced as an analogy to visualize a non ‘touchable’ matter. The metaphor has now become a standard reference and is often used to teach with in education. Metaphors, like models, have the potential to extend language and influence the literal recordings of facts and therefore create new meanings. Since the new meanings are based on analogies from the start, they could have distorted the reality of the model to a great extent, providing a less accurate representation. A metaphor evokes emotional responses whereas a scientific model was designed to be systematically developed, specifying the positive and negative analogy although the neutral analogy is open ended and leaves spaced for further interpretation. Furthermore, a scientific model leads to a testable theory. Nevertheless, the similarities between metaphors and models are significant enough to illustrate the importance of imagining analogies. Metaphors aren’t literally true, although, according to Wheelwright, they do â€Å"say something, however tentatively and obliquely, about the nature of what is†. Metaphors help illustrate a model by drawing a direct comparison between the phenomena that is desired to be represented with an analogy that is already existent in our world, defined, explained and understood. The ‘double-helix’ model of the DNA molecules in biology is also considered as a theoretical model, but that one specifically is closer to observational evidence that can be collected in a lab and can therefore be literally taken. Nevertheless, even in this theoretical model, only a defined number of aspects that compose world are brought into prominence, while a few more are neglected. For instance, the model exhibits the spatial relationships between the DNA components but doesn’t take account of the character of the existing bonds between them. In conclusion, models are used in various manner in science. They serve different functions among which you may find practical and theoretical. Theoretical models are innovative mental constructions based on imagination, perception and the ability to relate to already existing models. They end up in a combination of analogies that are usually open-ended and leave space for further development and possibility for shifts in interpretation. Models are usually taken very seriously but not literarily as they are only simplistic representations of complex phenomena. They can’t be defined as pictures of reality nor useful fictions, rather as inadequate and partial manners of imagining and creating what is not observable – in theoretical models.

What Mean Means

What Mean Means What Mean Means What Mean Means By Mark Nichol The verb mean, in the senses of â€Å"destine† â€Å"direct,† â€Å"intend,† and â€Å"signify,† is from the Old English phrase mae nan. To say that someone â€Å"means business† signifies that he or she is earnestly serious about something; to say that someone â€Å"means well† means that the person has good intentions. (One is said to be well-meaning when his or her intentions are good; the person’s actions are said to be well-meant.) Mean has multiple adjectival meanings. Used to convey the ideas of â€Å"base† or â€Å"contemptible,† â€Å"petty† or â€Å"stingy,† or â€Å"malicious† or â€Å"troublesome,† it is from the Old English phrase gemae ne, meaning â€Å"common.† It also has the less negative senses of â€Å"ashamed,† â€Å"dull,† and â€Å"humble† and actually has a positive connotation as a slang synonym for â€Å"effective† or â€Å"excellent† in references to having admirable skills, as in â€Å"He plays a mean saxophone.† (This may derive from a confusion with the idiom â€Å"no mean† followed by a noun or noun phrase, as in â€Å"He’s no mean poker player,† where â€Å"no mean† means â€Å"not average† or â€Å"not inferior.) The expression â€Å"lean and mean† likely derives from the notion of aggressive competitiveness. The adverb meanly means â€Å"in a humble, inferior, or ungenerous manner.† The sense of mean as a synonym for â€Å"average,† â€Å"intermediate,† or â€Å"midway† is ultimately from the Latin term medianus (by way of Anglo-French and Middle English), which is also the source of median. (Mesne, borrowed with an alteration in spelling from Anglo-French, means â€Å"intermediate† or â€Å"intervening† but is used only in legal contexts.) As a noun, mean can refer to something intermediate (as in the mathematical sense), something helpful (as in the phrase â€Å"means to an end†), or resources (as in the sense of having the means to accomplish something). Related idioms include â€Å"by all means† (â€Å"certainly†), â€Å"by means of† (â€Å"through the use of†), and â€Å"by no means† (â€Å"not at all†). The synonymic compounds meantime and meanwhile both derive from the â€Å"intermediate† sense of mean, while mean-spirited alludes to the sense of â€Å"petty.† (The slang term meanie, also spelled meany, refers to a person who is cruel; this usage is considered dated, however, and is now used only in a jocular sense.) To demean, meanwhile, is to debase or put down, while meanness can refer to poverty, stinginess, or weakness. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Vocabulary category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Farther vs. Further"Replacement for" and "replacement of"Forming the Comparative of One-syllable Adjectives