Anthropic Awareness

The Human Aspects of Scientific Thinking in NMR Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry

Csaba Szantay Jr.

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780124199798
• Topic: Physical Sciences
• Subtopic: Spectroscopy & Spectrum Analysis

Anthropic Awareness: The Human Aspects of Scientific Thinking in NMR Spectroscopy and Mass Spectrometry blends psychology, philosophy, physics, mathematics, and chemistry, describing a human-centered philosophy of the essence of scientific thinking in the natural sciences and in everyday life.

It addresses the reasons why we are prone to make errors in our conclusions and how to avoid such mistakes, also exploring a number of the "mental traps" that can lead to both individual mistakes and mass misconceptions.

The book advocates that by understanding the nature of these mental traps we can adopt tactics to safely evade them. It includes Illustrative examples of common scientific misunderstandings and mental traps in both the theory and real-life application of NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry.

• Provides strategies on how to deal with molecular challenges and instrument limitations
• Presents multiple applications of small molecule structure elucidation using NMR, MS, IR, and UV
• Explores critical topics, including anthropic awareness (AA), NMR Spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, scientific thinking, and more
• Includes tactics on how to Improve quality control and data interpretation skills while minimizing data analysis time and increasing confidence in results
• Presents coverage on tactics to optimize experimental NMR parameters and enhance NMR vocabulary

Part I

“Anthropic Awareness (AA)” (Mind Your Mind!)

Chapter 1

The Philosophy of “Anthropic Awareness” in Scientific Thinking

Csaba Szántay, Jr. Gedeon Richter Plc, Spectroscopic Research Division, Budapest, Hungary

Abstract

This chapter discusses the philosophical background of the remainder of the book. It outlines a way of thinking called “Anthropic Awareness” that focuses on developing a keen mindfulness of how our human nature influences our thoughts in and about science, and on how this influence can secretly lead us into various “Mental Traps.” The chapter comprises of two main parts: Firstly, it discusses 30 “Pillars,” each of which addresses a different aspect of science and the Mental Traps from an “anthropic” point of view. The Pillars include such topics as what we mean by scientific truth, the role of emotions in scientific thinking, the assessment of scientific models, metaphors in science, paradigms, and “everyday thinking” versus “scientific thinking.” Secondly, it outlines 45 Mental Traps that are the most relevant in understanding scientific descriptions and in conducting scientific research. These Mental Traps are an intrinsic feature of how we think both in science and in our everyday lives, and only by becoming conscious of them can we properly avoid them.

Keywords

Scientific truth

Human factor

Mental traps

Avoiding error

Philosophy

Psychology

Scientific theory

Model

Law

Outline

1.1 Introduction 5

1.2 The Pillars 8

Pillar 1. AA Is a Tool 9

Pillar 2. The Definition of “Science” 9

Pillar 3. The Concepts of “Science” and “Scientific Truth” 9

Pillar 4. The AA Model of Scientific Thinking 16

Pillar 5. On the Meaning of “Description” and “Understanding” 26

Pillar 6. The Triangle of Understanding 27

Pillar 7. The Relationship Between the AA Model of Thinking and the Triangle of Understanding 31

Pillar 8. Language 31

Pillar 9. The Definition of Definition 32

Pillar 10. Scientific Hypotheses, Models, Theories, Laws, Explanations, Metaphors, and Metaphoric Models 32

Pillar 11. Creativity in Science 37

Pillar 12. Scientific Communication 38

Pillar 13. Sound and Unsound Models 38

Pillar 14. The Role of Refutation in Science 41

Pillar 15. The Practical Versus Theoretical Significance of Exposing Delusors 42

Pillar 16. Paradigm Nests 42

Pillar 17. “Forward” and “Backward” Scientific Research 44

Pillar 18. The Meaning of “New” Scientific Result 45

Pillar 19. The Meaning of “Significant” Scientific Result 47

Pillar 20. Reporting Scientific Results 48

Pillar 21. The “Spideric” Nature of a Scientific Problem 48

Pillar 22. AA in the Context of the Literature and Other Initiatives Addressing Cognitive Errors 49

Pillar 23. “Everyday Thinking” Versus “Scientific Thinking” 51

Pillar 24. The Trap-Experience 52

Pillar 25. The Dual Nature of Mental Traps 52

Pillar 26. Mental Traps in Relation to Scientific Knowledge and Intellect (“Educated Error”) 52

Pillar 27. The Relationship and Synergy of Mental Traps 53

Pillar 28. Identifying the Mental Traps 54

Pillar 29. Trap-Blindness and Avoiding Mental Traps 54

Pillar 30. Trap-Consciousness and the “Sacredness” of Science 54

1.3 Mental Traps (Mind Your Mind!) 55

Interlude 55

Mental Trap (Master Trap) #1. We Seek Mental Security (the “Enjoy-Your-Flight” Effect) 55

Mental Trap (Master Trap) #2. We Have An Instinctive Urge to Interpret Data 57

Mental Trap (Master Trap) #3. Belief Dominates Over Reason 57

Mental Trap #4. The Initial Belief Syndrome 59

Mental Trap #5. We Accept Anecdotal Evidence 59

Mental Trap #6. We Tend to Trust Authority Without Question (Might is Right) 60

Mental Trap #7. We Go With the Crowd (Herd Instinct) 60

Mental Trap #8. We Accept Knowledge Based on Tradition 61

Mental Trap #9. We Think Inside Our Paradigm Nests 61

Mental Trap #10. We Accept Intuitively Appealing Explanations 62

Mental Trap #11. We Confuse Mathematical Descriptions with a Physical Understanding 62

Mental Trap #12. We Project the Absolute Truths of Mathematics Onto Physics 63

Mental Trap #13. Reflective Versus Reflexive “Physicalization” of Abstract Mathematical Entities 63

Mental Trap #14. We Confuse Familiarity with Understanding 65

Interlude 66

Mental Trap #15. The Twin Devils of Detail and Entirety 67

Mental Trap #16. Our Mind Loves Metaphors 68

Mental Trap #17. We Are Inclined to Use Superficial Analogies 69

Interlude 69

Mental Trap #18. We Confuse the Model with Reality 69

Mental Trap #19. We Attribute Too Broad a Range of Application to a Model 70

Mental Trap #20. We Confuse a Model’s Inherent Limitations with Its Flaws 71

Mental Trap #21. The Don’t-Look-Any-Further Effect (Confusing Consistency with Correctness) 71

Mental Trap #22. We Rejoice Before Finding the Full Solution 72

Mental Trap #23. Hypothesis Obsession (The Lock-On, Lock-Out Effect) 73

Mental Trap #24. We Seek Novelty-Promising Solutions (The “Anti-Occam” Trap) 73

Mental Trap #25. We Confuse Experimental Evidence with Interpretational Evidence 74

Mental Trap #26. We Confuse Cause and Effect 74

Mental Trap #27. We See Illusory Correlations Between Unrelated Data 75

Mental Trap #28. We Resist Change 75

Mental Trap #29. We Seek to Confirm 76

Interlude 76

Mental Trap #30. Our Mental Perception Is Preferentially Black-and-White 76

Mental Trap #31. We Petrify Assumptions 77

Mental Trap #32. We Objectify Subjective Claims 77

Mental Trap #33. We Disambiguate Our Conclusions 78

Mental Trap #34. We Ignore the Path Leading to a Conclusion 79

Mental Trap #35. We Are Spellbound by Numbers, Graphs, and Mathematical and Chemical Formulas 79

Interlude 79

Mental Trap #36. Affect/Emotycal Heuristic 80

Interlude 81

Mental Trap #37. We Overplay the Meaning of Scientific Truth 82

Mental Trap #38. We Confuse Deductive and Inductive Statements 82

Mental Trap #39. We Love to Generalize (Hasty Induction) 83

Mental Trap #40. We Prefer Quantity Over Quality 83

Mental Trap #41. Semantic Space 84

Mental Trap #42. The Halo Effect 86

Mental Trap #43. Warped Team Dynamics 86

Mental Trap #44. The Prepublication Illusion of Knowledge 88

Mental Trap #45. The Mental Trap of Becoming Obsessed with Mental Traps 89

1.4 Summary 89

Acknowledgments 92

References 92

Acknowledgments

Except for Figs. 1.13 and 1.14, the graphic artwork presented in this chapter was produced by Ms. Nóra Szirmai who, as a professional artist, was able turn my cursory, feeble, and only verbally communicable conceptions of these images into wonderful reality. During the process that led to each image (often through several iterations), she expressed not only supremely expressive artistic skill, but also remarkable sensitivity, perceptiveness, and patience towards the ideas that I wanted to convey. Any impact that I may hope to have attained with the notions expressed in this chapter should be credited to a significant extent to the catalytic visual effect of Nóra’s wonderful drawings, for which I am eternally thankful. I am also immensely grateful to Tünde Machácsné Halász, Eszter Takaró, and Aletta Gyurcsik for their invaluable assistance in making the idea of these images come true. I am grateful to Dr. Lars Hanson with whom I had the fortune to establish an extremely fruitful discussion on this project, and who offered many constructive and insightful comments. I am also indebted to Ms. Márta Szollát for her useful suggestions as to improving the style.

1.1 Introduction

The basic idea behind “Anthropic Awareness” (AA) was already outlined in the Preface, and I will build my theme from there.

As a prelude to the forthcoming discourse, I want to recall a short tale, known by many, about a man traveling on a train and getting into a whirl of false presumptions over a bag of crisps. This anecdote is known in several varieties, but the one I find the most striking, and which best suits the purposes of the present discussion, was given by Ian McEwan in his novel, Solar.¹ I have tried to condense the story whereby it may have lost the original flair that it has in Solar, but I hope that it will still make the point.

In the story, a well-situated Nobel Prize-winning physicist (for short, I will just call him the Physicist) gets on a train with a bag of his favorite potato crisps that he had bought previously for this particular occasion and had stuffed into his jacket pocket. He settles at a table and observes that opposite him there is a young hulk of a man (I will call him the Hulk) with a shaven head and piercings in his ears. The Physicist makes himself comfortable, fumbles with his laptop for a while, then leans back in his seat, half closes his eyes, and starts flirting with the sight of the crisps that are right before him on the table, together with a bottle of mineral water which belongs to the Hulk. Finally, yielding to his desire, the Physicist pulls himself up in his seat, leans forward, opens the bag, takes a single crisp, replaces the bag on the table, and sits back. He puts the crisp in his mouth, savoring the flavor while closing his eyes. When he opens them, he finds himself staring into the steely eyes of the man opposite. Somewhat embarrassed, but trying to maintain his dignity, he takes another crisp, only to be met again by the hard, unblinking stare of the other man. At that moment, the Hulk sits forward, steals a crisp from the packet, and eats it with an insolent chewing motion. The Physicist finds this act so flagrantly unorthodox that even he, who is quite capable of unconventional thought, can only sit frozen in shock. From then on, the two men get engaged in a silent psychological duel, each alternatingly taking a crisp from the bag. All this time the Physicist is considering various explanations for the Hulk’s demeanor. He comes to the conclusion that the Hulk’s behavior is aggressive, an act of naked theft, or he may be mocking the Physicist’s ridiculous pleasure in junk food, or he may just be teasing a stuffy bourgeois, or, most probably, he must be a psychopath. When there are only two crisps left, the Hulk retrieves the bag and, as a final insult, offers them to the Physicist in a parody of politeness. The Physicist is outraged. In a desperate show of resistance, driven by self-pity and a sense of “otherwise-I-will-never-be-able-to-live-with-myself,” he lunges forward, seizes the Hulk’s bottle of water, drinks it up to the last drop, and then defiantly tosses the bottle on the table. The train begins to slow down as it approaches the station. The Hulk stands up, thinks for a moment, and then reaches up and swings the Physicist’s luggage onto the floor, setting it down gently next to its owner. Feeling completely humiliated, the Physicist returns a snarling look of contempt. The Hulk hesitates for a moment, gazing down at the Physicist with an expression of pity, and then leaves the compartment. The Physicist trembles with anger and shock, so he gets into his coat with some difficulty and then steps out onto the platform. While making his way towards the ticket barrier, he reac...