Are you a scientist

[jamie hale]

Dr Michael Shermer interviews Dr Georgia Purdom at the Creation Museum in Kentucky.

 

This video provides an example of someone holding a college science degree who is not a real scientist; scientific degree doesn’t necessarily equate to scientist. A real scientist:

 

From Univ of Louisville Sciboard:

 

Q. What is a Scientist

 

Ans. Although a person with an advanced degree might claim to be a scientist, the true test of the scientist is how one thinks. A good scientist:

 

Excepts nothing in science absolutely.

Is willing to change his opinions based on new data.

Does not rely on Authority.

Thinks critically.

Knows that extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof.

Has an open mind.

Relies on logic and reason.

Knows how to form hypotheses and test them.

Respects the scientific method.

Examines all the data, not just the data that support his or her view.

Builds on the work of others, giving them appropriate credit.

Documents his or her experiments so they can be duplicated by others.

Knows that if a claim is made, the claimant must provide the proof. (It is not up to others to disprove it.)

Is intellectually honest.

 

Thanks,

Jamie Hale

[Mokele]

Those traits are necessary, but not sufficient. After all, if that's all that's needed, then anyone capable of logical thought on their subject of choice, whether that be chemistry or Star Trek episodes, is "a scientist".

 

Of course, it's a pretty sticky proposition determining when in one's career they become a scientist. After getting a bachelor's degree? PhD? Your first paper? Your first paper where you're lead author? The first Nature/Science paper? The first project that's entirely your concept/idea? When you have a faculty job? When you have a tenure-track job? When you get tenure? When you get a grant? When you get an R01 grant? When you accumulate $1 million in lifetime grant funding? Your first invited talk?

[swansont]

A good scientist:

 

Excepts nothing in science absolutely.

 

I think you mean "accepts"

 

 

It's absolutely true that a degree is insufficient in telling if any particular individual is a good scientist. The corollary of this is that for almost any crackpot conjecture, you can find someone with a degree who agrees with it.

[ajb]

I guess to be a "real scientist" you must have made some new contribution to mankind's understanding.

 

That means discover something and then report it.

 

At exactly what point does one become a scientist, I am as confused as Mokele.

 

I am not sure if other people would regard me as a scientist or not.

[jamie hale]

Sorry for my unclear wording and thread title. The two key points I was suggesting were: 1- Holding an advanced degree does not necessarily mean good scientist (e.g. Shermer video) 2- the bullet points from UofL Sciboard were characteristics of a good scientist, yet not a complete list as pointed out by Mokele.

 

Thanks for the feedback

 

Jamie Hale

[timo]

Do you consider your points as being required in addition to a university degree or as a replacement for it? And have you ever met a person claiming he/she is not a critical thinker?

[montyhar2]

I am not a scientist.But I have a knowledge of scientist.You have define very best definition about scientist.I like it.I guess to be a "real scientist" you must have made some new contribution to mankind's understanding.It means discover something and then report it.Thank you very much and Stay connected with me.

Edited December 15, 2009 by montyhar2

[maxxcon]

Hello Jamie

According to me, a scientist is a person who uses his/her ability to experiment on a problem he wanted to prove and of course who is expert in an area of science and who uses scientific methods in research.

 

Thanks.

[michel123456]

I admire your cold blood.

"Creation Museum"???????

From the Museum' web entry page:

"Welcome and Prepare to Believe

The state-of-the-art 70,000 square foot museum brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its characters and animals in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings. Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden. Children play and dinosaurs roam near Eden’s Rivers. The serpent coils cunningly in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Majestic murals, great masterpieces brimming with pulsating colors and details, provide a backdrop for many of the settings."

Is this a joke?

I thought I had to protect myself from such elucubrations coming from the East, I couldn't figure I had to care for the West too.

[npts2020]

I admire your cold blood.

"Creation Museum"???????

From the Museum' web entry page:

"Welcome and Prepare to Believe

The state-of-the-art 70,000 square foot museum brings the pages of the Bible to life, casting its characters and animals in dynamic form and placing them in familiar settings. Adam and Eve live in the Garden of Eden. Children play and dinosaurs roam near Eden’s Rivers. The serpent coils cunningly in the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Majestic murals, great masterpieces brimming with pulsating colors and details, provide a backdrop for many of the settings."

Is this a joke?

I thought I had to protect myself from such elucubrations coming from the East, I couldn't figure I had to care for the West too.

 

There are insane individuals throughout the world. Nowhere has a monopoly on them.

[hemantc007]

I am not a scientist.But I have a knowledge of scientist.You have define very best definition about scientist.I like it.I guess to be a "real scientist" you must have made some new contribution to mankind's understanding.It means discover something and then report it.Thank you very much and Stay connected with me.

 

 

same here .......... i understand what you are saying ..........i my self want to be a real and indeed pure scientist .I like to think too much ,though it is all thought experiment and most of them are hypothetical because my main stream itself is study of brain ( i.e not in real but i like that stream so i study it).

 

I indeed have my own theories, discoveries independent of other knowledge.

Basically i intend to discover all fundamental property ,formula,theory ect on my own , they might be same as today or might be different, in this way we will to see the same thing in different frame of referance(that is by mind or thinking).