Δαφνη Ευτυχια Αρθουρος

In response to Rob Preston's colunm "In A World Of Gray, Why Do We Tend To See Black And White?" (InformationWeek, 2008-01-19), which contains the paragraph, "It's not that believing deeply in something is inherently wrong or pigheaded. Some of our nation's most dynamic leaders have been stout of heart and mind; some of our least effective ones have been wafflers. But when your predispositions undercut your ability to collaborate and compromise and weigh evidence that supports a different point of view, your belief system quickly devolves into the realm of bias and prejudice. It's the difference between conviction and blind obedience. And it's counterproductive, especially in the world of business." Ken Wallewein wrote:

"It occurs to me that perhaps the only discipline in which this type of thinking is dicouraged is scientific research. And it's why our standard of living has progressed to greatly. When done well, science segregates bias from objective reality, thereby providing concepts and information we can 'take to the bank' and build on. In fact, it could be claimed that that is all science does, when it's performed properly -- and science needs to be objective about itself, too.

"This is probably the most important reason science needs to be better taught in schools. In my experience, most science teachers don't understand what science is. They think it's a collection of facts, not a way of thinking. People need to step away from the rhetoric and have the courage and self-discipline to look at their ideas objectively."

-- Ken Wallewein, President, K&am;M Systems Integration, letter to the editor, InformationWeek, issue 1171, 2008-02-04, p. 10

In response to Rob Preston's colunm "In A World Of Gray, Why Do We Tend To See Black And White?" (InformationWeek, 2008-01-19), which contains the paragraph, "It's not that believing deeply in something is inherently wrong or pigheaded. Some of our nation's most dynamic leaders have been stout of heart and mind; some of our least effective ones have been wafflers. But when your predispositions undercut your ability to collaborate and compromise and weigh evidence that supports a different point of view, your belief system quickly devolves into the realm of bias and prejudice. It's the difference between conviction and blind obedience. And it's counterproductive, especially in the world of business." Ken Wallewein wrote:

"It occurs to me that perhaps the only discipline in which this type of thinking is dicouraged is scientific research. And it's why our standard of living has progressed to greatly. When done well, science segregates bias from objective reality, thereby providing concepts and information we can 'take to the bank' and build on. In fact, it could be claimed that that is all science does, when it's performed properly -- and science needs to be objective about itself, too.

"This is probably the most important reason science needs to be better taught in schools. In my experience, most science teachers don't understand what science is. They think it's a collection of facts, not a way of thinking. People need to step away from the rhetoric and have the courage and self-discipline to look at their ideas objectively."

-- Ken Wallewein, President, K&am;M Systems Integration, letter to the editor, InformationWeek, issue 1171, 2008-02-04, p. 10