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A Critical Reflection on Automated ScienceThe Impact of Formal Reasoning in Computational Biology

A Critical Reflection on Automated Science: The Impact of Formal Reasoning in Computational Biology [Computational methods have become increasingly prevalent in molecular biology over the last decades. While this development has been met with mixed expectations, everyone appears to agree that we are witnessing a deep transformation of the epistemic and methodological conditions of the life sciences. In this contribution I would like to investigate the influence of computational methods in molecular biology by focusing on the very meaning of the concept of computation. As research in cognitive psychology has revealed, human reasoning can deviate substantially from the model of formal computation. However, computational methods do not necessarily represent an optimized version of informal reasoning. Instead, they are best understood as cognitive tools that can support and extend, but also transform human cognition in unintended ways. To illustrate this perspective, I will discuss a number of contemporary case studies from different areas in computational biology. Even though the influence of computational methods reveals itself in different ways, I suggest that an analysis of computational methods as tools of formal reasoning allows for a meaningful assessment of the differences between human and machine-aided cognition and of how they interact in scientific practice.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

A Critical Reflection on Automated ScienceThe Impact of Formal Reasoning in Computational Biology

Part of the Human Perspectives in Health Sciences and Technology Book Series (volume 1)
Editors: Bertolaso, Marta; Sterpetti, Fabio

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References (26)

Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Copyright
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020
ISBN
978-3-030-25000-3
Pages
139 –155
DOI
10.1007/978-3-030-25001-0_7
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[Computational methods have become increasingly prevalent in molecular biology over the last decades. While this development has been met with mixed expectations, everyone appears to agree that we are witnessing a deep transformation of the epistemic and methodological conditions of the life sciences. In this contribution I would like to investigate the influence of computational methods in molecular biology by focusing on the very meaning of the concept of computation. As research in cognitive psychology has revealed, human reasoning can deviate substantially from the model of formal computation. However, computational methods do not necessarily represent an optimized version of informal reasoning. Instead, they are best understood as cognitive tools that can support and extend, but also transform human cognition in unintended ways. To illustrate this perspective, I will discuss a number of contemporary case studies from different areas in computational biology. Even though the influence of computational methods reveals itself in different ways, I suggest that an analysis of computational methods as tools of formal reasoning allows for a meaningful assessment of the differences between human and machine-aided cognition and of how they interact in scientific practice.]

Published: Feb 6, 2020

Keywords: Scientific reasoning; Systems biology; Informal; Computation; Bioinformatics

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