Disagreement can aid the pursuit of knowledge in several ways: 1) Disagreement prompts researchers to conduct new experiments and develop new theories to explain inconsistencies or contradictions, as seen with Galileo disproving Aristotle's theory of motion. 2) Examining criticisms of existing theories leads to improvements or modifications that increase knowledge, such as Copernicus building on Aristarchus' heliocentric model. 3) While disagreement does not always lead to new knowledge, as in economics where theories cannot be proven, it often plays a role in advancing science by challenging current understandings.

1. Question 1: In what ways may disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge in the
natural and human sciences?
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Question 1 : In what ways may disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge in the natural and
human sciences?
“Knowledge is the perception of the agreement or disagreement of two ideas.1”
This definition of knowledge has showed me that the agreement or disagreement will aid us to
pursuit knowledge. Sometimes I could see a contradiction exists between two theories. For
example, the model of the atom that has been introduced in 1897. J.J Thomson proposed a model
of atom that consists of positive pudding with negative plums. This model was accepted for 12
years until there is disagreement from Ernest Rutherford, and under his direction, Geiger and
Marsden performed an experiment that proved the model is incorrect. Therefore, the knowledge
issue that will be discussed throughout this essay is in what ways may disagreement aid the
pursuit of knowledge in the natural and human sciences? The pursuit of knowledge can defined
as the ability for the knowledge to be accepted and apply by the people.
The disagreement would aid to pursuit the knowledge by giving a new dimension for the
researcher to look for a certainty to confirm their claim and later proposed a new theory that can
replace the superseded theory. This is because in order to create a scientific laws and theories,
scientists need to use an inductive logic to make a generalization based on their observation and
then apply deductive logic to these theories and laws to make explanation and prediction. The
problem occurs because science is about certainty. We will never gain certainty by using
inductive logic, as it does support our conclusion but it is not reliable to confirm a truth value of
these theories. Therefore, there will be a room for people to accept or reject a theory by coming
1 Kemerling, G. (2011, november 12). Human Knowledge. Retrieved february17, 2013, from A Guide to Locke's Essay:
http://www.philosophypages.com/locke/g04.htm

2. Question 1: In what ways may disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge in the
natural and human sciences?
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up with a new theory. But, before coming up a new theory, there will be a time where the
scientists disagree with theory proposed.
For example in natural science, “Aristotle thought that natural motion came from the
nature of objects. He believed that heavier objects tried harder to reach their proper place;
therefore, he believed that heavier objects fell faster than lighter objects.”2 However, this
dynamic motion law has been proven wrong by Galileo by conducting an experiment. In his
experiment, he shows that the lighter and heavier object hit the ground at the same time when
released from the same height. He also came up with a new law which is inertia that discredits
Aristotle point of view. From this example we can see that the disagreement can lead to the truth
value of knowledge where the scientist who disagree with the theory would conducted a new
research and experiment to find a proof to disprove that acknowledge knowledge. A more
accurate and valid knowledge can be gained from here. While in human science, “the blank
slate theory of socialization was disproven by research on cross-cultural universals.”3 Blank slate
or tabula rasa is the theory that believes human mind after born was blank. The people gain
knowledge from experience and perception along their growth. However, this theory was
rejected as the research result told that genetic can influence human personality.
However, the disagreement did not aid the pursuit of knowledge when people cannot
prove the theory released. In the economic field for example, there is some people agree and
accept Keynesian economics and reject supply side economics while other believe the vice versa.
2 David. (2000). mechanics. Retrievedfebruary18, 2013, from
http://library.thinkquest.org/C004587/tutorials/mechanics/lesson1.htm:http://www.thinkquest.org/
3 Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2013, January9). RetrievedFebruary20, 2013, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superseded_scientific_theories

3. Question 1: In what ways may disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge in the
natural and human sciences?
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“Keynesian economics was based on a circular flow of money, which refers to the idea that when
spending increases in an economy, earnings also increase, which can lead to even more spending
and earnings.”4 While supply side economics is “program for Economic Recovery that had four
major policy objectives which is reduce the growth of government spending, reduce the marginal
tax rates on income from both labor and capital, reduce regulation, and reduce inflation by
controlling the growth of the money supply.”5 Actually, we do not know which theory is
effective because there is no scientific evidence on it. We only have the anecdotal evidence
which is not valid for reasoning. This is because there is hard for us to run an experiment to
prove it. We need to controlled a lot of variable as economic can be influence by the population
of the people, weather, the condition of the place, earthquake and natural resources. That’s why
in economics, there is a lot of disagreement because there is no evidence to show which theory is
true as it has a lot of limitation. Therefore, the disagreement cannot aid the pursuit of knowledge
because there is no mechanism that can be used to prove the theory.
The disagreements also aid the pursuit of knowledge by improving or modifying the
theory. When the new theory released by the scientist, the other scientists would see whether that
theory contradicts or not with their theory. Any contradiction would result in disagreement and
they would continue their research in order to find whom theory is true. However, their
researches eventually help to add more truth value of that knowledge itself which is improve the
acknowledge theory. We can see the real life situation for this case which is from natural science
4 Denis. (2003). What Is Keynesian Economics? Retrieved 2 18, 2013, from wiseGEEK:http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-
keynesian-economics.htm
5 Niskanen, W. A. (1993). "Reaganomics." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. Retrievedfebruary18, 2013, from Libraryof
Economics andLiberty:http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc1/Reaganomics.html

4. Question 1: In what ways may disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge in the
natural and human sciences?
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regarding Heliocentrism. Heliocentric is the astronomical model that has the sun as the centre of
the solar system and the other planet including the Earth revolve around it. This model is
proposed by “Aristarchus of Samos”6. Nicholas Copernicus then presented a mathematical model
of heliocentric system and philosophical implication and fully discussion of geometrical detail to
support the theory proposed. The next scientists then continue the research and find the proof to
support the theory which is by the observation of the telescope which is presenting by Galileo
Galilei. The research is continuing until now where now we greatly accept the fact that sun is the
centre of the solar system. In the geographical theory, in the 16th century, people believe that we
can travel from Europe to Pacific across the North Pole. This theory is called open polar sea
where “the Open Polar Sea was a hypothesized ice-free ocean surrounding the North Pole.”7 This
theory was disproving when the scientist failed to prove it during their expedition in early 19th.
However, the latest news released by the scientist told that there is possible for the Artic to
become ice-free due to the Artic shrinkage. This new found can improve the knowledge that has
been bunked before.
But, too much disagreement also can lead to hinder the pursuit of knowledge. This is
proven when the theory is contradicts to the religious point of view. The theory cannot be
applied for certain people when it contradicted to their religious point of view. For example,
Darwin’s theory of human evolution. In Christianity and Islam, the people believe that god create
6
Helden, A. V. (1995). Copernican System. Retrievedfebruary26, 2013, from The GalileoProject:
http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/theories/copernican_system.html
7 Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (2013, January9). RetrievedFebruary20, 2013, from Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_Polar_Sea

5. Question 1: In what ways may disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge in the
natural and human sciences?
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man from soil. This causes them to reject Darwin’s theory as Charles Darwin proposed that men
evolved from ape.
As a conclusion, disagreements aid the pursuit of knowledge in the natural and human
sciences. In both area of knowledge, we could see there is a lot of limitation that can exist when
we are trying to prove our theory. That’s why disagreement plays a big role here. This
disagreement can help us to deal with science in a better why so that the truth value of the
knowledge can be achieved. Besides, the disagreement also aids the pursuit of knowledge by
introducing the new theory and improvise the acknowledge theory. We can see it from the
examples that have been discussed above. Even though there is limitation for every claim that I
have included, but I believe the disagreement outweigh the agreement. All in all, the
disagreements do help in natural science and human science in order to pursuit knowledge.
(1280 words)

6. Question 1: In what ways may disagreement aid the pursuit of knowledge in the
natural and human sciences?
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Wikimedia Foundation,Inc.(2011,June 9). RetrievedFebruary23,2013, fromWikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superseded_scientific_theories