(SETTING: A History of Medicine class at a prestigious Midwestern university. Mid-afternoon. Topic of discussion, "Is the scientific method independent of history?", prompted by wondering why the challenge to Galenic medicine took place during the Renaissance rather than earlier or later)
STUDENT: "The scientific method's present everywhere. Little kids make hypotheses and then test them out; that's how they learn."
[OTHER STUDENTS debate the point]
PROFESSOR: "Actually, my three-year-old loves to make generalizations about how the world works, and some of them he
could test quite easily--but he's just not interested. He's so convinced that he's right."
STUDENT: "Oh. It's just that I read that in my high school psychology textbook."
[
Exeunt omnes]
posted by Maureen at 8:50 PM
