TOK Task #3 – Emotion in Science

The sciences are all about using reason to understand the world, there is no place for emotion in science.

There are many different ways emotion can affect the sciences – during the execution of experiments, understanding science etc. To determine how emotion affects sciences, one must understand what emotion entails. Emotion could mean the feelings one experiences when studying science, which can be affected by beliefs, past events, physical environment, incentives, or the feelings in general about studying science.

There is space for emotion in science because one requires passion to study and thus, understand the sciences more effectively. This means that one needs to have the motivation to commit and accurately progress through the learning process of sciences. Without emotion and passion when one studies science, the information will not be completely absorbed and learned to the best of one’s ability, which could prove to be a hinderance during the sharing or teaching of information. Furthermore, in fields such as psychology, emotions and feeling are important when it comes to sympathising, understanding, analysing and ultimately helping someone. It is important to understand that emotions have an impact on actions and to understand this, sometimes exercising emotion will help.

However, it can also be argued that there is no place for emotion in the sciences. Considering the fact that emotions can be influenced by belief, past events, physical environment, and incentives, the information or the study in the sciences can be negatively impacted if one lets emotion affect their thinking. If someone has religious beliefs that affects their view on sciences, for example evolution, this could have a negative effect on the results as it may be deemed unreliable or less valid because of their bias. Since the sciences are about using reason to understand the world, emotions can cause a serious negative influence on the quality of the science whether it be learning it or teaching it.

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