Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

III. Methods and tools
lack of diversity in these studies is
The
because Western scientists have
surprising
for centuries how the environment
wondered
behaviour. John Locke’s “tabula
influences
question—that human beings are a “blank
rasa”
at birth and develop almost exclusively
slate”
environmental influences—was posed way
from
in 1690. Victorian polymath Francis Galton
back
added to that question with nature
famously
nurture, a debate that influenced human
versus
well into the 20th century. If the idea of
scientists
has been examined for so long, how did
nurture
answer requires looking closely at how
The
is produced. Research is constrained
knowledge
funding, and the easiest, cheapest and most
by
volunteer subjects tend to be campus
willing
Repeating a study in the
undergraduates.
world is expensive and more difficult to
real
and academic life is highly competitive,
control;
those who publish frequently, quickly,
rewarding
generalizable findings. In contrast, crosscountry
with
studies can take years.
The temptation is to generalise and
undergraduate.
… I don’t think it’s necessarily a problem
universalise
study the American undergrad, to the extent
to
you limit your conclusions to the American
that
The problem is when we don’t limit our
undergrad.
and start saying: ‘This behaviour is
conclusions,
of human nature, and evolved on the African
part
millions of years ago.’ And that’s where
savannah
WEIRD issue is embedded in a wider
The
that includes the replicability crisis,
context
in III.4, in which scientists “have
discussed
uncomfortably aware that many
become
results do not hold up: not just in other
flagship
but full stop” (Colvile 2016). There
cultures,
a need for larger sample sizes and more
is
studies, which in turn requires even
repeat
subjects, of which the WEIRD campus
more
is certainly the most convenient.
undergraduate
may explain why, even though attention
This
first drawn to the WEIRD bias in 2008,
was
situation as of 2020 has not significantly
the
Many studies still do not even include
improved.
about which nation or region
information
participants are from, or, if the subjects
the
US undergraduate students, their ethnic
are
A 2018 analysis revealed not a
backgrounds.
study sampled people from Africa, the
single
East or Latin America, concluding “the
Middle
of cultural diversity in psychological science
lack
well established … however … therehas been
is
are also wider, more ideological thrusts
There
the WEIRD bias that do not point to
to
or carelessness as the main cause.
arrogance
gave us the idea that
TheEnlightenment
can be “one great big brotherhood
humankind
man”, while the fallout from eugenics and
of
violence committed in the
racially-motivated
century may have made Western academic
20th
and institutions less inclined to
traditions
human differences, and more inclined
explore
focus on (and assume) human similarities.
to
there is the broader 20th-century
Finally,
within the sciences to seek simplicity—
trend
rules, theories of everything—
fundamental
from the perceived surface-level
distilled
of the cosmos. That complexity may
complexity
from across the human sciences
Scientists
found considerable variation both within
have
populations and between them. It
human
generally misleading and patronizing to
is
groups of people “as” something—
stereotype
risk averse, as honest, as cooperative, for
as
whatever that characteristic is. Is it
example—
better, however, to assume that different
any
are highly similar? Experimental
populations
have found population-level
findings
in diverse domains such as visual
differences
ideas of fairness, cooperation,
perception,
8
scientists forget to program it into their research?
little action in response” (Rad etal 2018).
get publicity, and tenure, for fascinating truths
You
the human condition, not about the US
about
be more than skin deep.
III.2 Implications of WEIRD research
we’re making a really big leap.
(Colvile 2016)
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