Geologic Thinking

William of Ockham

William of Ockham

________ was a monk who wrote ideas about theology and about thinking.

Geoscientists

________ investigate Earth and how its systems work.

Karl Popper

________ introduced the idea that scientific ideas had to be falsifiable.

Uniformitarianism

________ is the idea that the processes that are happening on earth are the same ones that happened in the past, and they will continue into the future.

hypothesis

A(n) ________ is an idea about how or why something happens, but it is only scientific if it can be testable.

James Hutton

________ was known as the father of modern geology and was the first person to define how geologists think about rocks and time.

concept

It is the ________ that puts the "prediction "and the "experiment "into the scientific method.

Earth science

________ is all about figuring out the past, how it changed throughout time, understanding where it is now, and what may happen in the future.

Principle of parsimony

________: When you have two hypotheses, both of which describe the data, the best one is the one with the fewest assumptions.

Feedback loop

________ is a threshold concept that is the idea that when you start to make a change that change causes a chain reaction and that circles back to the initial position.

Scientific way

The ________ of thinking organizes ideas and data to produce theories about how the natural world works.

Uniformitarianism

________ was created by James Hutton.

Earth science

________ is all about change over time.

1st thing a geologist does when walking up to an outcrop is to start thinking about

Whats important to look at

Geologists understand that the Earth is very old and that processes take a very long time

it alters the perception of the human place in the world

Expect low-frequency, high-impact events

asteroid impact, ice ages, massive floods, large volcanic eruptions

The four processes of the scientific theory:

observation, theory, prediction, evidence

Science starts by

observing something and asking why it works that way

The Scientific way of thinking organizes

ideas and data to produce theories about how the natural world works

Alfred Wegener was

an early geologist that proposed the idea of continental drift

Alfred Wegner Key Point 1

In science, you have to look at all the data

Alfred Wegner Key Point 2

The idea about how the world works comes out of the data, not vice versa

Alfred Wegner Key Point 3

As more studies are done and more data gathered, the ideas about how something works might change

Ockham's Razor Principle of parsimony:

When you have two hypotheses, both of which describe the data, the best one is the one with the fewest assumptions

Falsification was the concept that

puts the “prediction” and the “experiment” into the scientific method

falsification

For any scientific hypothesis, you come up with there has to be a way to prove it wrong in order for it to be recognized as a scientific theory

Other ways of knowing:

Intuition, Faith, Senses, Gut feeling

Why is time a hurdle for experimentation in geoscience

Geological processes happen very slowly so it is not possible to experiment with some things

1st rule of Geological reasoning

Uniformitarianism

Uniformitarianism was created by

James Hutton

Geologists’ reasoning is different because of

the vastness of geological time

Geologists’ reasoning is different because experiments

over those long time frames are hard to run

Geologists’ reasoning is different because data

is missing

Geologists’ reasoning is different because storytelling is

part of the geologic understanding

Geologists’ reasoning is different because many concepts

that deal with geologic principles and processes are NOT linear

Geologic thinking is

interpretive

The first thing a geologist does when walking up to an outcrop is start to think about:

What is important to look at? What is important to ignore? What is the geologic story of this region?

Perceptions are shaped by

conceptions

Interpreting requires

circling small scale to large to small again

Geological thinking is

historical

Geologists tell a story that

gives context and meaning to their research

Geoscientists’ Unique Skill Set 1

Taking a long view of time (Thinking about time)

Geoscientists’ Unique Skill Set 2

Interpreting based on a systems approach (Understanding complexities)

Geoscientists’ Unique Skill Set 3

Translating field observations into inscribed data (learning in the field)

Geoscientists’ Unique Skill Set 4

Visualizing 3D data in 2 dimensions (spatial thinking)

Thinking about time has Geologists understand that

the Earth is very old and that processes take a very long time: this alters perceptions of humans’ place in the world

Thinking about time helps geologists Expect low-frequency, high-impact events that

happen quickly and end quickly

Thinking about time helps geologists Expect low-frequency, high-impact events, ex:

asteroid impact, ice ages, massive floods, large volcanic eruption

Thinking about time helps geologists Expect low-frequency, high-impact events that can

change the landscape and climate and have very large impacts on Earth

Thinking about time helps geologists

Understand slow change is responsible for most of this version of Earth

Thinking about time may

bring unique insight into environmental issues

Understanding Complexities helps geologists

pay attention to how processes are active and interact

Understanding complexities helps geologists understand

The Earth system contains complex feedback loops

Learning in the field let geologists understand that

Observations play a central role in geologic studies

Leraning in the field helps geologists develop

Professional Vision- Seeing what is important

Learning in the field helps geologists to learn

The ability to translate observations into inscriptions that other geoscientists can read is vital

Spatial Thinking includes thinking

Expansively: envision across wide areas and realize that they were once connected

Spatial thinking includes using

X-ray eyes: envision below the surface

spatial thinking requires geologists to do

3-dimensional thinking: see 2D but envision 3D and vice versa

Spatial thinking skills

require natural ability, learned ability, and specialized tools

Spatial thinking is

thinking that finds meaning in the shape, size, orientation, location, direction or trajectory, of objects, processes or phenomena, or the relative positions in space of multiple objects, processes or phenomena.