https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0 en-us 2016-11-08 05:48:35 UTC 2021-09-01 04:43:07 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1708986400 Psychology: Cognitive processes --> there have been a multitude of studies conducting to study the process of thinking and decision making in psychology. However, it is important to note that cognitive processes never operate on their own. There are always external situational factors that play a role in the development of one's cognition. A large number of psychological studies take a reductionist approach in order to study the cognitive process in isolation when truly a more integrated, holistic approach is required.

Biological sciences: Prokaryotic organisms --> When studying prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms in the biological sciences it is extremely important to note the concept of emergent properties. Multicellular organisms possess properties that unicellular organisms don't simply based on the fact that they have more cells than unicellular organisms. This allows them to carry out metabolic processes that prokaryotes (unicellular) can't.]]> 2021-09-01 04:17:09 UTC https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1708986400 https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1708989586 In psychology (human sciences), reductionism is commonly used to attribute certain complex human behaviours to simplified phenomenon or parts within the brain. For example, in a study conducted by Fisher, Aaron, and Brown, the activation of the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain was observed to link with feelings of romantic love and attachment. Hence, it was claimed that the activation of dopamine in the brain is responsible for the feelings of arousal and affection felt during love. This, evidently, is highly reductionistic, and neglects the variety of other "emergent knowledge systems" within human behaviour such as memory, cognition, sensations, etc.

In medicine (natural sciences), reductionism was a highly common phenomenon in the 19th and 20th century. A variety of diseases such as small pox and the Spanish flu were attributed to factors such as rats or cattle based on higher incidences in farms or unhygienic areas, causing a variety of doctors to caution travel to these areas. Clearly, simply observing a correlation and attributing it as the cause is a highly reductionist approach, and lead to negligence of other factors such as communal food and water supplied, leading to many deaths. It was soon found that the water used in a variety of villages was contaminated with pathogens, and areas such as farms simply had higher consumption rates of water. ]]> 2021-09-01 04:18:44 UTC https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1708989586 https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1709000832 In psychology reductionism is used in many ways. For example a study conducted by Antonova aimed to explore the effect of inhibitor scopolamine on spatial memory. They found out that it greatly reduces the ability to encode spatial memories by blocking the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This is reductionist as it uses this example to explain spatial memories while other factors such as age, strength of memory, historical factors etc affect it as well. Therefore any other knowledge systems are neglected when explaining spatial memory in humans.]]> 2021-09-01 04:24:14 UTC https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1709000832 https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1709009034 Human Sciences: In psychology, reductionism plays a prominent role in reducing complex processes to its basic to further help with understanding. While this has its benefits in terms of deriving a focus and makes matters less complicated, there are certain limitations which include the ignorance of external factors that might also play a role in the processes. This is prevalent in cognitive psychology where researchers try to understand behaviour or decisions based on cognition hence in turn reducing it and ignoring any external factors that might affect behaviour. 

Natural Sciences: In biology, genetics and neurochemicals are referred to as the basis of any disorder. But disorders like schizophrenia for example is because of excess production of domaine. This inturn affects the course of treatment and ignoring other factors like gender, influence of family and environment and other important levels can be seen as an example of the flaws of reductionism. ]]> 2021-09-01 04:28:03 UTC https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1709009034 https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1709022925 Psychology (Mental illnesses)- The explanations for causes of certain mental illnesses are highly reductionist as they often use genetics and neurochemical imbalances as the main factors leading to them. For example, in the case of schizophrenia, the excess production of dopamine is viewed as a possible cause. However, that is highly reductionist due to the fact that there could be multiple possible causes for it. This is an issue because it has been found that larger doses of amphetamine given to people with absolutely no history of psychological disorders tend to behave and show the symptoms of schizophrenia due to the high dopamine levels causing hallucinations, delusions, and confused thinking.

Religion:

]]> 2021-09-01 04:34:27 UTC https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1709022925 https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1709028055 Yes, for example in regards to biopsychology in which the cause for mental illnesses like  schizophrenia is determined and said to be due to excess dopamine. However, due to this approach, other reasons as to why mental illnesses are formed could not be as worthy of investigation therefore resulting in the neglect of emergent knowledge systems. Since genetics and neural imbalances are highlighted, other factors that could be developed and emerge into new streams of knowledge are disregarded. However, in the AOK of mathematics, in which modern maths can be built upon the foundation of existing theories such as the axiomatic set theory. Others like Jouko Väänänen have contradicted this theory with other alternatives, which has sparked the emergent of knowledge systems in math such as second-order logic.]]> 2021-09-01 04:36:52 UTC https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1709028055 anoushkaichpanani1 https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1709041016 Art: In music, each frequency and semitone contribute to the holistic sound of a piece. In analysing music pieces from specific eras, the pieces are looked at as a whole to determine certain properties and generalisations. For example, pieces from the Baroque era are characterized by grandeur, richness with ornamentation on notes (trills and accents) However, if you take a piece from the classical era and deconstruct it into its components and find that the piece contains trills, you might identify it as a Baroquesque piece. This is not the case since the music can only be classified as a Baroque piece when it is looked at as a whole with its tempo, key signatures and tone. Looking at isolated parts prevents us from identifying the emergent properties of musical pieces.]]> 2021-09-01 04:42:51 UTC https://padlet.com/akarshsanjayan1/nmeov5k06ml0/wish/1709041016