> The challenge for those of us who want to influence the academics is
> to develop new types of measurements that reflect what's important.
>
> -Dan Dugan
Sounds like the quanititative vrs qualitative problem. Seems that animals
experience the qualities of the sounds as significant whereas the scientists
are still holding the idea that quantity is more real than quality. Perhaps the
answer lies in creating a system of research/recording data, from a perspective
which is meaningful to the subjects. If the scientists are so far not
understanding the reality of the situation, due to reducing the reality to db
readings, perhaps rather than find how to express the reality in their
quantitative paradigm, there might be a way to redesign the whole
approach/paradigm to better suit the reality being researched.
I had some exposure to the scientific method of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I
found this to be a way to come closer to the reality of phenomena than through
the common analytical approach. It can give much more experiential
understanding, more "understanding phenomena from their own side". I feel it
would greatly help in understanding this issue, and indeed birdsong in general.
Here's a link which mentions this topic of qualitative science:
http://www.natureinstitute.org/qual/index.htm
Justin
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