Graphism thesis

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In sociology of science, the graphism thesis is a proposition of Bruno Latour that graphs are important in science.

Bruno Latour French sociologist, philosopher and anthropologist

Bruno Latour is a French philosopher, anthropologist and sociologist. He is especially known for his work in the field of science and technology studies (STS). After teaching at the École des Mines de Paris from 1982 to 2006, he became Professor at Sciences Po Paris (2006–2017), where he was the scientific director of the Sciences Po Medialab. He retired from several university activities in 2017. He was also a Centennial Professor at the London School of Economics.

Graphics are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in computer-aided design and manufacture, in typesetting and the graphic arts, and in educational and recreational software. Images that are generated by a computer are called computer graphics.

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Research has shown that one can distinguish between hard science and soft science disciplines based on the level of graph use, so it can be argued that there is a correlation between scientificity and visuality. [1] [2] Furthermore, natural sciences publications appear to make heavier use of graphs than mathematical and social sciences. [3]

It has been claimed that an example of a discipline that uses graphs heavily but is not at all scientific is technical analysis. [4]

Technical analysis security analysis methodology

In finance, technical analysis is an analysis methodology for forecasting the direction of prices through the study of past market data, primarily price and volume. Behavioral economics and quantitative analysis use many of the same tools of technical analysis, which, being an aspect of active management, stands in contradiction to much of modern portfolio theory. The efficacy of both technical and fundamental analysis is disputed by the efficient-market hypothesis which states that stock market prices are essentially unpredictable.

See also

Philosophy of science is a sub-field of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ultimate purpose of science. This discipline overlaps with metaphysics, ontology, and epistemology, for example, when it explores the relationship between science and truth.

Epistemology A branch of philosophy concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge

Epistemology is the branch of philosophy concerned with the theory of knowledge.

Graphism refers to the "expression of thought in material symbols". Graphism began some 30,000 years BC, not as a photographic representation of reality but as an abstraction that was geared toward magical-religious matters. Early graphism then was a form of writing that constitutes a 'symbolic transposition, not copying of reality'.

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References

  1. ↑ Arsenault, D. J.; Smith, L. D; Beauchamp, E. A. (2006). "Visual Inscriptions in the Scientific Hierarchy". Science Communication . 27 (3): 376. doi:10.1177/1075547005285030.
  2. ↑ Smith, L. D.; et al. (2000). "Scientific Graphs and the Hierarchy of the Sciences". Social Studies of Science . 30 (1): 73–94. doi:10.1177/030631200030001003. JSTOR   285770.
  3. ↑ Cleveland, W. S. (1984). "Graphs in Scientific Publications". The American Statistician . 38 (4): 261–9. doi:10.2307/2683400. JSTOR   2683400.
  4. ↑ Mann, B. (5 January 2001). "Is Technical Analysis Voodoo?". Fool on the Hill. Fool.com.

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