Question: Do you really consider yourselves scientists? Like, really?

Joe Bathelt answered on 5 Nov 2016:

Frankly, I have to say that this question scratched my ego a little, because I identify strongly with my work and the ideal of science. However, after some self-reflection, I think that you are raising a very important point.
So, personally, I could use my education (BSc in Biology, MSc in Neuroscience, PhD in Cognitive Neuroscience) and my publications in scientific journals as supporting evidence.
However, you could argue that the questions that I’m interested in are too ‘soft’ to be considered science. There are some arbitrary distinctions between ‘hard’ sciences, like physics, chemistry, and biology, and ‘soft’ sciences, like psychology. However, there is considerable overlap and science is mostly interdisciplinary nowadays. My colleagues have backgrounds ranging from biophysics and computer science to clinical psychology. My own research is a blend of different fields and the questions vary from ‘hard’ questions concerning methodology to ‘softer’ questions about thought processes.

As you can probably see, I do not agree with the hard vs soft distinction, because it feels extremely arbitrary to me. I buy into the argument by the famous philosopher of science, Karl Popper, who proposed that any inquiry that proceeds through hypotheses and experimental tests is a science. Therefore, my work would be considered science, because I make predictions based on a theory and then test them in the data that I collect.