Science for Better or Worse, a Source of Ignorance as Well as Knowledge. Kourany, J. A. In Routledge International Handbook of Ignorance Studies. Routledge, 2 edition, 2022. Num Pages: 13abstract bibtex Science is gendered in a variety of ways. One is the way science has produced knowledge of men at the same time that it has produced ignorance of women. Until the end of the twentieth century, for example, archaeology investigated men’s contributions to the great turning points of human evolution while it ignored the contributions of women, and this left the impression that still persists today that men are the great innovators and controllers of human destiny, not women. Again, medical research until the end of the twentieth century defined many diseases that afflict both women and men (such as heart disease and AIDS) as men’s diseases and studied them primarily in white, middle-aged, middle-class men. And now, in the twenty-first century, medical research continues its focus on men. For example, in the U.S. although heart disease is the leading cause of death among women (in fact, since 1984 more women than men have died each year from heart disease, and the gap between women’s and men’s survival continues to widen), women still comprise only 24 percent of the participants in all heart-related studies. A second way in which science is gendered also concerns the balance of knowledge and ignorance produced by science, but this time it concerns the way science sometimes persists in producing knowledge when it might more usefully refrain—that is, when it might more usefully maintain ignorance. For example, for centuries it was claimed that women are intellectually inferior to men, and for centuries the basis for such inferiority was sought in biology and later also in psychology. And now, even after centuries of such research, scientists are still seeking to determine whether women are the intellectual equals of men—for example, whether women are as innately gifted in mathematics and the sciences as men. And although the claims of intellectual inferiority continue to be contested and corrected, they also continue to be made, and the endless succession of claims and counterclaims both feeds on and helps to sustain the stereotype of intellectual inferiority associated with women. Meanwhile, studies have documented the harm done to women and girls by the publication of scientific claims suggesting an innate female deficit in mathematics. So, the question arises whether such cognitive differences research should continue to be pursued, or whether ignorance would be preferable. I shall argue that an acceptable balance of scientifically produced knowledge and ignorance regarding men and women should reflect societal needs for gender equality as well as the need for freedom of research and the intrinsic value of knowledge.
@incollection{kourany_science_2022,
edition = {2},
title = {Science for {Better} or {Worse}, a {Source} of {Ignorance} as {Well} as {Knowledge}},
isbn = {978-1-00-310060-7},
abstract = {Science is gendered in a variety of ways. One is the way science has produced knowledge of men at the same time that it has produced ignorance of women. Until the end of the twentieth century, for example, archaeology investigated men’s contributions to the great turning points of human evolution while it ignored the contributions of women, and this left the impression that still persists today that men are the great innovators and controllers of human destiny, not women. Again, medical research until the end of the twentieth century defined many diseases that afflict both women and men (such as heart disease and AIDS) as men’s diseases and studied them primarily in white, middle-aged, middle-class men. And now, in the twenty-first century, medical research continues its focus on men. For example, in the U.S. although heart disease is the leading cause of death among women (in fact, since 1984 more women than men have died each year from heart disease, and the gap between women’s and men’s survival continues to widen), women still comprise only 24 percent of the participants in all heart-related studies. A second way in which science is gendered also concerns the balance of knowledge and ignorance produced by science, but this time it concerns the way science sometimes persists in producing knowledge when it might more usefully refrain—that is, when it might more usefully maintain ignorance. For example, for centuries it was claimed that women are intellectually inferior to men, and for centuries the basis for such inferiority was sought in biology and later also in psychology. And now, even after centuries of such research, scientists are still seeking to determine whether women are the intellectual equals of men—for example, whether women are as innately gifted in mathematics and the sciences as men. And although the claims of intellectual inferiority continue to be contested and corrected, they also continue to be made, and the endless succession of claims and counterclaims both feeds on and helps to sustain the stereotype of intellectual inferiority associated with women. Meanwhile, studies have documented the harm done to women and girls by the publication of scientific claims suggesting an innate female deficit in mathematics. So, the question arises whether such cognitive differences research should continue to be pursued, or whether ignorance would be preferable. I shall argue that an acceptable balance of scientifically produced knowledge and ignorance regarding men and women should reflect societal needs for gender equality as well as the need for freedom of research and the intrinsic value of knowledge.},
booktitle = {Routledge {International} {Handbook} of {Ignorance} {Studies}},
publisher = {Routledge},
author = {Kourany, Janet A.},
year = {2022},
note = {Num Pages: 13},
keywords = {PRINTED (Fonds papier)},
}
Downloads: 0
{"_id":"5xXyCfnf7EC7FFKWo","bibbaseid":"kourany-scienceforbetterorworseasourceofignoranceaswellasknowledge-2022","author_short":["Kourany, J. A."],"bibdata":{"bibtype":"incollection","type":"incollection","edition":"2","title":"Science for Better or Worse, a Source of Ignorance as Well as Knowledge","isbn":"978-1-00-310060-7","abstract":"Science is gendered in a variety of ways. One is the way science has produced knowledge of men at the same time that it has produced ignorance of women. Until the end of the twentieth century, for example, archaeology investigated men’s contributions to the great turning points of human evolution while it ignored the contributions of women, and this left the impression that still persists today that men are the great innovators and controllers of human destiny, not women. Again, medical research until the end of the twentieth century defined many diseases that afflict both women and men (such as heart disease and AIDS) as men’s diseases and studied them primarily in white, middle-aged, middle-class men. And now, in the twenty-first century, medical research continues its focus on men. For example, in the U.S. although heart disease is the leading cause of death among women (in fact, since 1984 more women than men have died each year from heart disease, and the gap between women’s and men’s survival continues to widen), women still comprise only 24 percent of the participants in all heart-related studies. A second way in which science is gendered also concerns the balance of knowledge and ignorance produced by science, but this time it concerns the way science sometimes persists in producing knowledge when it might more usefully refrain—that is, when it might more usefully maintain ignorance. For example, for centuries it was claimed that women are intellectually inferior to men, and for centuries the basis for such inferiority was sought in biology and later also in psychology. And now, even after centuries of such research, scientists are still seeking to determine whether women are the intellectual equals of men—for example, whether women are as innately gifted in mathematics and the sciences as men. And although the claims of intellectual inferiority continue to be contested and corrected, they also continue to be made, and the endless succession of claims and counterclaims both feeds on and helps to sustain the stereotype of intellectual inferiority associated with women. Meanwhile, studies have documented the harm done to women and girls by the publication of scientific claims suggesting an innate female deficit in mathematics. So, the question arises whether such cognitive differences research should continue to be pursued, or whether ignorance would be preferable. I shall argue that an acceptable balance of scientifically produced knowledge and ignorance regarding men and women should reflect societal needs for gender equality as well as the need for freedom of research and the intrinsic value of knowledge.","booktitle":"Routledge International Handbook of Ignorance Studies","publisher":"Routledge","author":[{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Kourany"],"firstnames":["Janet","A."],"suffixes":[]}],"year":"2022","note":"Num Pages: 13","keywords":"PRINTED (Fonds papier)","bibtex":"@incollection{kourany_science_2022,\n\tedition = {2},\n\ttitle = {Science for {Better} or {Worse}, a {Source} of {Ignorance} as {Well} as {Knowledge}},\n\tisbn = {978-1-00-310060-7},\n\tabstract = {Science is gendered in a variety of ways. One is the way science has produced knowledge of men at the same time that it has produced ignorance of women. Until the end of the twentieth century, for example, archaeology investigated men’s contributions to the great turning points of human evolution while it ignored the contributions of women, and this left the impression that still persists today that men are the great innovators and controllers of human destiny, not women. Again, medical research until the end of the twentieth century defined many diseases that afflict both women and men (such as heart disease and AIDS) as men’s diseases and studied them primarily in white, middle-aged, middle-class men. And now, in the twenty-first century, medical research continues its focus on men. For example, in the U.S. although heart disease is the leading cause of death among women (in fact, since 1984 more women than men have died each year from heart disease, and the gap between women’s and men’s survival continues to widen), women still comprise only 24 percent of the participants in all heart-related studies. A second way in which science is gendered also concerns the balance of knowledge and ignorance produced by science, but this time it concerns the way science sometimes persists in producing knowledge when it might more usefully refrain—that is, when it might more usefully maintain ignorance. For example, for centuries it was claimed that women are intellectually inferior to men, and for centuries the basis for such inferiority was sought in biology and later also in psychology. And now, even after centuries of such research, scientists are still seeking to determine whether women are the intellectual equals of men—for example, whether women are as innately gifted in mathematics and the sciences as men. And although the claims of intellectual inferiority continue to be contested and corrected, they also continue to be made, and the endless succession of claims and counterclaims both feeds on and helps to sustain the stereotype of intellectual inferiority associated with women. Meanwhile, studies have documented the harm done to women and girls by the publication of scientific claims suggesting an innate female deficit in mathematics. So, the question arises whether such cognitive differences research should continue to be pursued, or whether ignorance would be preferable. I shall argue that an acceptable balance of scientifically produced knowledge and ignorance regarding men and women should reflect societal needs for gender equality as well as the need for freedom of research and the intrinsic value of knowledge.},\n\tbooktitle = {Routledge {International} {Handbook} of {Ignorance} {Studies}},\n\tpublisher = {Routledge},\n\tauthor = {Kourany, Janet A.},\n\tyear = {2022},\n\tnote = {Num Pages: 13},\n\tkeywords = {PRINTED (Fonds papier)},\n}\n\n","author_short":["Kourany, J. A."],"key":"kourany_science_2022","id":"kourany_science_2022","bibbaseid":"kourany-scienceforbetterorworseasourceofignoranceaswellasknowledge-2022","role":"author","urls":{},"keyword":["PRINTED (Fonds papier)"],"metadata":{"authorlinks":{}}},"bibtype":"incollection","biburl":"http://bibbase.org/zotero-group/science_et_ignorance/1340424","dataSources":["zX4acseCDM6D58AW7","5XkfmA9xajmKjWGio"],"keywords":["printed (fonds papier)"],"search_terms":["science","better","worse","source","ignorance","well","knowledge","kourany"],"title":"Science for Better or Worse, a Source of Ignorance as Well as Knowledge","year":2022}