Objectivity in the Study of Intelligence: The Cornerstone of New Methods and Discoveries

Extract

Science requires objectivity - the ability to see the relationships among things in the natural world free of assumptions and biases. To achieve this goal one has to use objective methods of observation and testing but also maintain a philosophy of objectivity when deciding upon which research questions to pursue and which conclusions to draw from one's findings. The field of bioastronomy relies upon objectivity on both a methodological level and, perhaps to the greatest extent among all sciences, on a conceptual level. Bioastronomy is the multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary science of investigating, understanding, and explaining the origin, nature, prevalence, and distribution of life in the universe. As a scientific field of inquiry bioastronomy relies upon methodological objectivity. Furthermore, bioastronomy demands conceptual objectivity because its content domain is, by nature, largely unknown and subject to more degrees of freedom than perhaps any other discipline. Therefore, objectivity, through and through, is the cornerstone of bioastronomy.