About 100 years ago, a\nmovement formed by scientists, mathematicians and philosophers collectively\nknown as the Vienna Circle and Berlin Circle, propagated the philosophical idea\ncalled \u201clogical positivism.\u201d In essence, this idea puts the emphasis on the\nimportance of empirical evidence as the central criterion in verifying\nknowledge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has led, intentionally or otherwise, to an extreme\nexpression of logical positivism known as \u201cscientism.\u201d Scientism, among other\nthings, hold to the belief that in any inquiry, science is the only source of\nreliable and rational knowledge. This gives the implication that any other\nforms of knowledge that cannot be empiricised (observed, measured or\nquantified) are unreliable and therefore, irrational.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
No doubt, many thinkers including those in the west have\ncriticised logical positivism and scientism. Even in science and mathematics,\nthere are ideas, concepts and theories which are accepted purely on faith and\nnot based on empirical evidence. One such theory is the Set Theory in\nmathematics which was developed in the early 20th<\/sup> century which is\nnow widely used by mathematicians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In explaining\nthe nine axioms of the Set Theory, Hanspeter Fischer, a professor of\nmathematical science at Ball State University, Indiana, USA wrote that, \u201cVery\nmuch like the postulates of geometry, these axioms [of set theory] are accepted\non faith. All subsequent theorems, however, must be based on these axioms and\nthe strict rules of logical inference alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reliance\nthat people have in scientific knowledge in the 20th<\/sup> century\nremained high as science is seen as a \u201ctrusted\u201d body of knowledge. Fast forward\nto the present time, almost exactly 100 years after the logical positivism\nmovement started in Vienna and Berlin, the pendulum of trust seems to have\nswung to another extreme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Science, which was\nput on a pedestal, is now being challenged by distrust in scientific knowledge.\nThis \u201cwar on science\u201d is not something that occurs overnight, but it is made\nmore apparent with the COVID-19 pandemic currently plaguing the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The war on\nscience is actually a manifestation of the post-truth era that we are living in\ntoday. The Cambridge Dictionary defined \u201cpost-truth\u201d as \u201ca situation in which\npeople are more likely to accept an argument based on their emotions and\nbeliefs, rather than one based on facts.\u201d Living in a post-truth era while\nfacing the threat of COVID-19 can lead to dire situations as seen in many parts\nof the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n SARS-CoV-2 is a\nnovel Coronavirus only identified at the end of 2019. As such, much is not\nknown about the virus and COVID-19 the disease. A lot of research around the\nworld are being conducted in order to understand the virus and disease better.\nConsidering the novelty of the virus and disease, scientists have actually made\nrelatively good progress, but without a doubt there is still a lot that is not\nknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With what little\nthat we do know about the virus and disease, scientists and medical experts\nhave given advice that is thought to be important in keeping infection rates\nlow and manageable. These include social distancing, wearing face masks,\nlooking after hygiene, quarantine those with symptoms and locking down a place\nwhen there is an alarming spike in the number of cases.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While these\nadvice are based on data obtained through scientific research, there are\nefforts by certain quarters to sow doubt on the scientific evidence. This has\nbrought about an unfortunate consequence where science, scientists and\nscientific institutions, which at one time was held in high standing, are now\nviewed with distrust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the current\n\u201cwar on science,\u201d doubt on scientific evidence are spread by presenting\nalternative facts. \u201cAlternative facts\u201d is a term coined in 2017 by Kellyanne\nConway, a senior advisor to President Donald Trump. When alternative facts\nclash with scientific findings, and people are inclined to believe alternative\nfacts due to their emotions and beliefs, then this situation poses a significant\nrisk to public health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This can already\nbe seen in many countries, where infections continue to rise exponentially as\npeople refuse to wear face masks and practice social distancing. Consequences\nof this war on science in the post-truth era at a time when there is pandemic\nare very glaring and difficult to ignore. Lives are lost, nations\u2019 economies\nare in the doldrums and unemployment is on the rise \u2014 these are but a few of\nthe long list of consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scientific\nknowledge, its process and methodology may not be perfect. However, it is still\nthe best tool that we have in our attempt to understand the natural world, which\nincludes viruses and diseases. The knowledge obtained from science helps to establish\nguidance for us to handle any disease outbreak and pandemic such as COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Islam, one\nway in which knowledge can be obtained is through human endeavours by establishing\ncausal relationship based on observations made on the natural world. This in\nessence is the process of tadabbur<\/em>\nwhich requires mankind to observe the natural world. In Surah al-Ghashiyah\nverses 18 to 20 for example, it is stated that, \u201cDo they not look at the\ncamels, how they are made? And at the sky, how it is raised high? And at the\nmountains, how they are fixed firm? And at the earth, how it is spread out?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n These verses in\nessence propagate the importance of doing research, and this will then lead to\nthe development of scientific knowledge. As such, there is a growing need to\nensure that we strike a balance when utilising science. We should not regard\nscience as the be-all and end-all in the knowledge hierarchy, but equally\nimportant, we must not ignore scientific findings that are critical in\nexplaining and understanding how things in the natural world work, and how this\nknowledge can be used to save lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today the trust\npendulum may have swung unfavourably towards science and scientists in certain\nparts of the world, but as Muslims and Malaysians, it is crucial that we\nmaintain the balance so that our decisions are informed, objective and\nrational.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" About 100 years ago, a movement formed by scientists, mathematicians and philosophers collectively known as the Vienna Circle and Berlin Circle, propagated the philosophical idea called \u201clogical positivism.\u201d In essence, this idea puts the emphasis on the importance of empirical evidence as the central criterion in verifying knowledge. This has led, intentionally or otherwise,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_analytify_skip_tracking":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27539","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-straits-times","category-139","description-off"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27539","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27539"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27539\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27539"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27539"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ikim.gov.my\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27539"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}