“We can only ask questions that we have imagination for.”

Last updated on: January 19, 2019 at 11:45 pm by Dan Peterson

“We can only ask questions that we have imagination for.” 2019-01-19T23:45:26-07:00 Dan Peterson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Lobaria pulmonaria, Lobariaceae, tree lungwort, lung lichen, lung moss; Upper Bavaria, Germany. (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

Here’s a brief but interesting article on a little-known field in the biological sciences:

“The Overlooked Organisms That Keep Challenging Our Assumptions About Life: Gorgeous and weird, lichens have pushed the boundaries of our understanding of nature—and our way of studying it.”

I like the opening passage of this 17 January 2019 article, which was written by Ed Yong for The Atlantic:

“Science is sometimes caricatured as a wholly objective pursuit that allows us to understand the world through the lens of neutral empiricism. But the conclusions that scientists draw from their data, and the very questions they choose to ask, depend on their assumptions about the world, the culture in which they work, and the vocabulary they use. The scientist Toby Spribille once said to me, “We can only ask questions that we have imagination for.””

A good illustration of this view of science is lichenology, the study of lichens.

Since roughly 24 November 1859, when Charles Darwin published his masterpiece On the Origin of Species, which is generally considered the founding text of modern evolutionary biology, biologists have been strongly inclined to view nature as a gladiatorial arena, dominated by perpetual conflict for reproductive success, light and energy and nutrition, and what might be termed, with a very conscious nod to those notable Social Darwinists Hitler and the Nazis, Lebensraum or “living space.” More and more, though, biologists are recognizing that lichens aren’t simple and single plants but, rather, colonies of cohabiting, cooperative organisms that would, in a sense, not exist on their own.

But, of course, the point suggested by Toby Spribille is relevant far beyond the sciences, and perhaps even more obviously so. If complete objectivity and neutrality are difficult to achieve in the physical and biological sciences, if not altogether impossible, how much more obviously so will this be the case with respect to the social sciences and the humanities.

If the conclusions that scientists draw from their data, and the very questions they choose to ask, depend on their assumptions about the world, the culture in which they work, and the vocabulary they use, won’t that be even more obviously true for psychologists, sociologists, and historians? The principle that we can only ask questions for which we have the imagination surely holds true in philosophy, historiography, archaeology, and similar fields where error isn’t so immediately apparent in the form of unsatisfactory instrument readings and, sometimes, laboratory explosions.

Previous Post

January 19, 2019

"Day of Judgment"

Next Post

January 19, 2019 "Heretics and Other Insiders"

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 March 2014 August 2013 February 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many books are in the entire Bible?

Select your answer to see how you score.

80 39 66 73