Module Description:

Overarching goal: To begin to develop your ability to recognise potential problems and needs more readily and with greater accuracy than others.

Key words: Intellectual curiosity, Reflective learning, Exposure to multi-disciplinarity

What to expect: You will be treated to a four-fold stroll through big ideas on human inquiry and the nature of the world. Four different professors will introduce you to, and help you reflect upon the different modes of inquiry that constitute the modern knowledge enterprise.

M1: Reason and Reality (HC Loy)

What is it about the world that makes it hospitable to our investigation? And what kind of beings do we have to be to find inquiring into the nature of things possible and worthy of effort? One ancient answer says that all this is because the world is ultimately a rational place and our ability to reason gives us access into the nature of things. In this module, we begin the ancient Greek thinker Zeno’s argument against the possibility of motion as a starting point for reflecting on power and limitation of reason's ability to give us knowledge about the human and natural world. We will then focus on human moral responsibility within the backdrop of a potentially deterministic physical universe as an extended case study. In the process, we will reflect upon how and whether that ancient emphasis on the power of reason continues to underpin important aspects of modern inquiry, including our own.

M2: The Nature of Science (Loo YL)

We are all born thinking like scientists, curious about the world and ready to explore it with senses. But what happen to this curiosity as we grow up? Do we still have the critical thinking and skills to help us learn about the natural world through observations and logical reasoning? In this modulet, we seek to understand the nature of science, especially the role that experiments play in advancing our knowledge of the world. We will begin historically, with the scientific revolution which laid the foundation of modern science. We will then move on to discuss the different aspects of modern science and how we can approach questions using the scientific method. Finally, we will conclude with how logical fallacies in science should be avoided and why we should remain skeptical so as to promote good science.

M3: Knowledge and Society (J Chow)

We often tend to think of inquiry as an individual activity. But most of what we know comes from someone else—textbooks, Youtube, friends, parents, educators, and professional and academic communities. No inquirer, in other words, is an island: we all rely on others and the wider social environment to learn and interact with the world around us. In this module, we explore the implications of understanding inquiry from a social perspective. We begin by examining our dependence on testimony for many of our everyday beliefs. We then move to understanding how social norms shape our epistemic environment. Finally, we’ll examine the implications of our discussion for the learning environment we hope to build here at USP.

M4: Technology and Tomorrow (C Burke)

Does societal change cause technological change, or is it the other way around? Making predictions about the direction society may take in the future is incredibly important, especially during times of upheaval and change. Can looking at the paths certain new technologies take, and their potential to transform all aspects of our lives give us insight into our shared future? In this module, we will look at the technologies leveraging the potential decentralization of everything, from money to contracts, to trade and information. What insights (if any) can these technologies provide us into the way we all may live in the (not so distant) future. And, if our predictions do come to pass, are we not the definition of true modern social scientists?