scientific method vs Belief

In Psychology, we’ve been taught that the Scientific Method is The Way, the only way to know and obtain knowledge. In the scientific world it is accepted as the only true system of processes to explain a question or data. However, what is true? How do we know what is true, as the scientific method hasn’t always been around…

To know what truth is, one must first define truth. Truth manifests itself from sincerity, integrity, or faith, resulting to a fact or what one considers reality. There are an abundance of theories by philosophers who have their own take on the definition. Some state that truth is defined by society, or through historical power struggles, or logic that if one thing is true than a similar claim is also. Yet, it is among the endless list of theories, made by many of the world’s great thinkers, which lays a simple solution: that truth is just that, personal. There are countless ideas and limitless ways of knowing because every human is an individual and unique. No two lives are the same and no experience is exactly alike. Truth is based from logic, belief, or a combination of the two, and since everyone thinks in his or her own distinctive way thus produces diverse answers to the question of truth.

Logical thinkers appeal to the sciences where answers are formulative and derived from a precise beginning and would prefer to stay within the black and white box. Those who base truth out of belief go off of emotion and are unable to label why a certain event led them to the answer. Naturally, belief and logic will cross over and affect each other. However, it is quite impossible to logic one in believing or vice versa. Complicated webs form and entangle thinkers and frustrate scholars who seek only to share their findings and better their academic community. This is probably why the scientific method was created. It’s the Esperanto, the common language for scientists. It’s a formula that anyone anywhere can understand and implement, but also it’s a way to place boundaries and define expansive ideas.

Overall, no, the scientific method is not the only technique for investigating occurrences and is not the only way of knowing. We individually have our own method in which we find truth, whether by your heart or your head.