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Jayson Griggs
Professor Johnston
English 1B M/W 10:05-11:30
25 February 2013
Benefits and Problems of the Scientific Method
In chapter nine of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Prisig defines the scientific
method as a “program” of thought that combines “inductive and deductive” reasoning toward
“the solution of problems too complicated for common sense to solve” (107). Prisig follows this
explanation by discussing the benefits and problems of the scientific method.
Prisig starts—in chapter nine—by explaining that the first step of the scientific method is
the accurate statement of the problem at hand. This combined with the subsequent development
of a hypothesis (step 2)—designed to find the cause of the problem—can keep “you from taking
a major wrong turn which might cause you weeks of extra work” (109). The next step (step 3)—
experimentation—tests these formed hypotheses followed by the final step of deriving
conclusions from the data collected during experimentation. Success in the latter two steps lies in
testing “only the hypothesis” and likewise concluding “no more than the experiment has proven”
(110). Prisig summarized these points: “by asking the right questions and choosing the right tests
and drawing the right conclusions” one can find “the exact specific cause or causes” of the
problem and “change them so they no longer cause the” problem (p 111). Put simply, the
scientific method is a road map to thinking about problems, and when followed closely will
provide the most accurate cause to a given problem.
In addition to the benefits of the scientific method Prisig also presents the reader with the
problems of the scientific method. In chapter ten Prisig discusses the formation and origin of the
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hypothesis itself. He concludes that “the act of formally writing everything down precisely and
clearly [following the scientific method] seem to suggest them [hypotheses]” (114). Prisig
continues, “as he [Phaedrus] was testing hypothesis number one by experimental method a flood
of other hypotheses would come to mind. . . . until it became painfully evident that as he
continued testing hypotheses and eliminating them or confirming them their number did not
decrease, it actually increased as he went along” (115). In other words, one question leads to
infinite questions—think of a child constantly asking why something is. This is a major logical
contradiction within the scientific method. Prisig explains that “if the number of hypotheses
grows faster than experimental method can handle, then it is clear that all hypotheses can never
be tested. . . . the results of any experiment are inconclusive” (115). So, this wonderfully
beneficial road map to finding the cause to any given problem has its clear limitations.
From here Prisig provides a quote from Einstein—which paraphrased sums up the idea
that truth is a function of time. Basically, truth changes—or grows—with time. There is at any
given time one best accepted explanation of truth which is subject to change if better
explanations present themselves. In philosophy this is known as the coherence theory of truth. As
Prisig is attempting to communicate to his reader, reality at any given moment is based only off
of our best information at that given moment. For example, if one was told by a mechanic that
their vehicle was not running due to a lack of gas in the tank then one may believe this to be true.
However, if one were to notice the next day (after towing the vehicle home) that the battery was
disconnected then one could possibly conclude that the disconnected battery was the actual (or
further condition of) the vehicle not running. Therefore the truth of what was making the vehicle
not run has changed with this new information. There is no ultimate truth, for truth is always
growing and changing to accommodate new information.
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So, while Prisig presents the scientific method as one of humanity’s best tools for
problem solving and defining truth he as well concedes its major flaw of infinite hypotheses
causing truth to exist in a state of constant flux—a concept disturbing to many.
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Works Cited
Prisig, Robert M. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values. New
York: Harper Collins, 1974. Print.