Scientific Thinking: Key Features and Principles

Scientific knowledge affects a person’s worldview, understanding life. The scientific and cognitive thought process is aimed at solving urgent problems, adopting constructive ideas, successfully overcoming difficulties, improving the quality of life conditions of each individual and society as a whole.

The formation of scientific thought activity is carried out in the process of cognition of the world. Scientific thinking is a special kind of cognitive process aimed at introducing objective information into the human mind. The cognitive function reflects the essence of science.

All products of scientific thinking are justified and assembled into a single system. The classification of sciences in subject areas isolates social (social-humanitarian), natural, technical and mathematical sciences.

• Social sciences and humanities are aimed at gaining knowledge about society and man. History and law permeate all areas of public life. General knowledge about society is fixed in philosophy and sociology. Anthropology, aesthetics, ethics, philology, psychology, political science, cultural studies, economics reveal a specific area of ​​the public sphere. Scientific thinking in the humanitarian field explores human thoughts, motives, intentions and personal values.
• Natural sciences involve the study of nature. Biology, chemistry, geography, geology, ecology, physics, astronomy equip people with new knowledge that contribute to improving the quality of life.For example, in the medical industry, scientific discoveries contribute to the recovery of patients suffering from previously considered incurable diseases. Environmental scientists are investigating reservoirs and the environment, warning the population about the danger of their pollution.
• To technical sciences include mechanics, robotics, computer science, agronomy, architecture, which accelerate scientific and technological progress. Many technical sciences are designed to automate the production of enterprises, supplying them with the latest technology. In the modern world, robots, new types of energy, ultrasonic processing methods, and lasers in technology are successfully used.
• Mathematical theories supply all other sciences with formal language means. Calculations, measurements, descriptions of the shape of objects are used to find general laws of nature. Their structural relationship is observed. Mathematical models are used in the scientific thought process in the study of most sciences.

All sciences intersect periodically. In a scientific study, thinking is aimed at studying the information, laws of specific processes and at analyzing, identifying regular, repeating phenomena in them.

Scientific thinking is characterized by fundamental nature. Unlike ordinary mental activity, it is characterized by universality, rationality, expediency, a high level of generalization of knowledge, the ability to formulate problems and build hypotheses, logical consistency and evidence, the desire for objectivity and reliability of the information received, verification of facts using arguments, development of the conceptual apparatus.

The whole world of science is presented in the form of concepts and terms. The presence of a methodology is an essential component of the overall process. This type of mental activity provides continuity in the use of previously accumulated knowledge and many new reliable ideas. It performs cognitive, worldview, activity, cultural and social functions.

In psychology, the main features of the scientific thought process are distinguished.

With a scientific approach to the study of an object or phenomenon, there is a complete detachment from the subjective worldview. While reading fiction, a person feels a subjective view of the author on phenomena and facts. The scientific treatise reflects only the facts obtained through careful objective research. There is no personal information about the scientist.

For many centuries, people have collected all kinds of descriptions and explanations of various facts and phenomena. Over time, their streamlining led to the emergence of certain concepts and terms.

Scientific thinking involves the theoretical justification of principles and patterns. Some of them for a long time remain at the level of assumptions and predictions, which for some reason do not yet have an evidence base, but in the future, scientists will justify guesses. And they will be scientifically proven or disproved. The repository of proven various theories and hypotheses contains many arguments confirming their objectivity.

Scientific thinking is directed towards the future. For science, the results of research are of great importance not only for the current period of time, but also for their improvement, transformation into prospects.

Science isolates objectively true fragments, parts, forms that will be useful to the coming generation.

The natural-scientific approach to gaining knowledge to consolidate theorems and the laws of various concepts obliges researchers to turn to formulas, symbols, and other signs. A specific sign system is constantly being improved, adjusted, supplemented throughout the entire period of the existence of science.

Observation and control over the study of objects and phenomena, their relationships among themselves indicates the conscious use of scientific methods by scientists.

Theories are built on the basis of experiments. The scientific thought process makes it possible to use the results to collect the evidence base of a huge number of studied objects. In the course of experiments, specific concepts are formed, certain conclusions are made.

• The main principle of a scientific act of thought is the presence of experiment. Compared to empirical thinking, the scientific approach involves the extension of experimental results to a very wide range of information. Thanks to this, scientists are able to draw more different conclusions.
• The second principle indicates the desire of scientists to objectivity and detachment. The empirical approach implies the direct participation of the individual in the experiment, taking into account the subsequent evaluative opinion. In order to avoid accidental or intentional distortion of the conclusions obtained during the experiment, observation is carried out from the side in the scientific thought process.
• The third important principle is to systematize the information obtained in order to build a theory. The empirical approach does not imply a theoretical synthesis of knowledge; therefore, all data are considered separately from each other. The scientific approach sees the relationship between phenomena with their further grouping and classification.

Scientific thinking seeks to apply certain methods of the cognitive process.

It allows you to turn an objective pattern into a researcher’s action rule. Universal methods of such cognition are analysis and synthesis, deduction and induction, modeling, analogy, abstraction and idealization.

Analysis involves the division of the whole into its constituent parts, synthesis - connection of parts into a single whole. At deductions proof is derived from one or more reliable statements based on the laws of logic. At induction individual facts lead to a general situation. Method modeling involves the reconstruction of the characteristics of an object using a specially created other model. This method is used in case of difficulties arising during the study of the object itself.

Abstraction consists in a mental distraction from some properties of phenomena and the relations between them, highlighting some of their qualities. Abstraction can result in various categories and concepts. Idealization It is a thought process, coupled with the formation of some abstract concepts, not always realistic in reality.

The methods of scientific research include measurement, comparison, description, systematization and classification. Empirical and theoretical methods are widespread in cognitive activities related to science.

Scientific methods and empirical methods of cognition involve experiments to obtain certain information. They rely on experiment and observation.For the experiment, special conditions are created, factors that prevent it are removed, and appropriate technical devices are used. The study of phenomena and objects is carried out by the impact of the subject of knowledge on the object of study. When observed, there is no such effect.

For an organized and productive understanding of the material being studied. use of instruments and tools is possible.

Scientists record all the information obtained experimentally in the form of a theory. Its structure includes fundamental concepts, principles, laws, axioms, value factors.

The theoretical approach includes formalization and mathematization. In the first method, scientific information is manifested through the signs of a specially created language. The second method involves the implementation of mathematical achievements in the studied field of knowledge.

Historical method provides a description of the process, taking into account its unique features. Logical method involves the reconstruction of a system of abstractions in a theoretical form. All objects are represented at different stages of their development, in other words, their entire historical path is recorded. The logical method is closely related to history, which illuminates the stages of the development of events in their specific forms of manifestation in compliance with their chronology. The unity of all methods used in scientific thinking provides further scientific and technological progress.