Chapter 1 Response

This chapter in Kosmos deals with science. It discusses how science is neither “good” nor “bad,” and basically comes down to what we make of it. The author also states that most of the decisions we make in life are made using scientific methodology, where we hypothesize, test our hypothesis, and make a conclusion. This was evident in the burnt-out bulb example. When a light switch is turned on and the light doesn’t work, we assume that the bulb is burnt out and then replace it, which usually results in a bright light once the switch is turned on again. This entire process involves scientific methodology.
The thing I found most interesting about this chapter was the example about the cab driver. The old man drove a beat-up jeep in a remote mountain village, and when he came to an intersection, he would begin honking his horn and blow through the intersection without slowing down. When asked about why he did so by his passengers, he said he had poor eyesight and recalled he had used this tactic several times before on the same road and always avoided an accident. He figured this method was the best way for him to get through the intersection without being in a wreck. This type of thinking is what is applied when we hear people say, “If it’s not broken, don’t fix it.” When people do certain things several times and always get the same response, they are likely to use these same techniques on a regular basis without ever thinking differently. I also think many people live their lives in this way. Humans get into certain routines that produce expected outcomes over and over, so everything just becomes commonplace for us.