Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
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Methodolog
icalOverview
Any honest and compelling written or oral argument must begin with meth-
odology. By that we mean that it should provide answers to such questions
as the following: How did you reach that conclusion? What approach did
you use? What assumptions did you make? How did you access disciplin-
ary methodology or interpret available data? In this beginning chapter, we
attempt to address such broad and important questions.
Although we are trained in economics (RB) and biology (CM), the meth-
odology to which we refer goes far beyond our formal academic disciplines.
We cannot abandon that training, but it must be used selectively, and in the
broader context of rational inquiry. Much of the thrust of this topic rests on
the belief that conventional usage of the discipline of economics, and even
some of the core tenets of the discipline, have led us astray. If this is true,
then clearly, there must be some dominant methodological approach that
would uncover these problems and perhaps lend guidance in charting an
effective and appropriate path into the future. This section seeks to identify
such an approach, and represents the search for a new mindset or worldview
as much as it seeks new methodology. To accomplish this goal, we must com-
pare and evaluate two disparate ways of thinking and their respective acuity
of analysis: symptomatic and systemic.
Symptomatic Analysis
Call a thing immoral or ugly, soul-destroying or a degradation of man,
a peril to the peace of the world or to the well-being of future genera-
tions; as long as you have not shown it to be “uneconomic” you have
not really questioned its right to exist, grow, and prosper.
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—E. F. Schumacher
Conventional analysis is normally oriented toward treating symptoms, as
opposed to uncovering the root causes for phenomena that are deemed prob-
lematic. The legacy of the Scientific Revolution, in the 17th and 18th cen-
turies, weighs heavily in this regard. The hallowed scientific method has
been the dominant explanatory and problem-solving mode of choice since
the Enlightenment. This places heavy reliance on simple cause and effect.
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