Self-mastery

The Streetlight Effect and the Trouble with Science

Even science has its biases

"I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail." Abraham Maslow, The Psychology of Science

I was struck by an exchange I had on Twitter. It wasn't nasty by any means. I noticed a science tweet criticise a 'lay' explanation of how man with a head injury can wake up with a gift for a piano, without offering any alternative.

When I dared to suggest perhaps we 'don't know' it was again asserted that the current explanation was wrong. This was despite the current explanation (to do with high levels of serotonin released in cases of brain damage having the ability to create new neuronal pathways) being supported by, albeit incomplete, science and scientists.

This, I humbly suggest, is the problem with science. I will demonstrate why, and without irony, not offer a replacement.

My example above related to the one of many anecdotal case studies of people who hit their head and gain remarkable abilities. Whilst this might seem somewhat cartoony, it does happen in real life. And the alternative explanations are…