part a scientific feng shui · 2. science and feng shui of a new scientific paradigm (kuhn, 1970)....

PART ASCIENTIFIC FENG SHUI

© 2011 City University of Hong Kong © 2011 City University of Hong Kong

SCIENCEAND

FENG SHUI

22© 2011 City University of Hong Kong © 2011 City University of Hong Kong

10


Scientific Feng Shui for the Built Environment—Fundamentals and Case Studies


Philosophy of Science

Western philosophy has its roots in sixth-century Greece, with two opposite directions led by Heraclitus on the one side and Parmenides on the other. Briefly, Heraclitus believed in a world of perpetual change and eternal becoming, and that all changes in the world arose from the dynamic and cyclic interplay of opposites, with any pair of opposites representing a unity—the concept of “Logos” (Kahn, 1979). Parmenides however, maintained that “being” was manifested in certain invariable substances and the concept of indestructible substance was derived—the concept of “matter.” Since the fifth century, Greek philosophers had drawn a clear line between spirit and matter and these twin concepts became the essential element of the western thought of “dualism” (Descartes, 1989). The spiritual world developed into religious thought, while the material one into scientific knowledge.

The later evolution of western science is said to be the Renaissance (literally the “rebirth”) of scientific thought. Galileo’s astronomical discoveries revealed the astounding truth that without experiment and observation the accepted knowledge of the world was incomplete. This evolution of western science was based on empirical knowledge through mathematics and experiments. This approach led to the resulting successful development in science and technology. The philosophy of science also had a tremendous influence on western thinking. Descartes’ famous sentence “Cogito ergo sum”—“I think, therefore I exist” led to the concept of isolated egos existing inside bodies; mind separated from body; and an individual separated into compartments. Capra (1975, p. 22) suggested, “This inner fragmentation of man mirrors his view of the outside world as a multitude of separate objects and events.”

New Direction of Science

Western scientific philosophy is the realm of rational knowledge which measures, quantifies,

classifies and analyzes the smallest separable particles of matter in isolation. This scientific approach originated from the work of Galileo, Descartes, Newton, and Einstein. During the period of scientific revolution, among the many great new theories discovered in physics have been Newton’s equation of motion, Einstein’s theory of relativity of mass and energy, and quantum theory of nucleus. However, Russell (1927) warned that while these theories in physics are all mathematical, this is not because so much about it is known, but because so little is known. An example is the extension of the electromagnetic spectrum from visible light to the inclusion of gamma rays, cosmic rays and many other hitherto undiscovered frequencies. Furthermore, in the realm of sub-atomic physics, there have been ever-increasing discoveries of both the particles with mass, such as protons, neutrons, and the lightest of all, electrons, and the infinitesimal massless particles such as photons and neutrinos, and a whole galaxy of lesser particles mesons such including muons, pions, kaons, and baryons; all of which have their “antiparticles,” leading to a never-ending list of yet undiscovered particles.

Capra (1975) recognized that modern scientists know that their methods of analysis and logical reasoning could never explain the whole realm of natural phenomena, because all theories have limitations and approximations that are valid only under a certain assumption of phenomena. Cooper-Marcus (1987) pointed out that it is now a critical period in human evolution, because this old paradigm dominated by Cartesian logic and Newtonian physics no longer encompasses what society values. He noted that it is not that the science and technology are wrong, but rather that scientific thought has been dominated by a biased paradigm or patterned way of thinking.

Over the past 30 years, the more that scientists discovered smaller and smaller particles of matter in the atom and the sub-atomic nucleus, the more they found that the world cannot be decomposed into independently existing units. As a result, the development of scientific thinking, theories and concepts has progressed to identify the emergence

© 2011 City University of Hong Kong© 2011 City University of Hong Kong © 2011 City University of Hong Kong

11

2. Science and Feng Shui

of a new scientific paradigm (Kuhn, 1970). Prigogine and Stengers (1984) suggested that all systems contain subsystems which are continually “fluctuating,” and consequently the system will either disintegrate into “chaos” or leap to a higher level of “order” or organization; more importantly, order and organizat ion can actual ly ar ise “spontaneously” out of disorder and chaos through a process of “self-organization.” Capra (1996) also suggested that the natural phenomena appear as a complicated “web” of relations between various parts of the whole. This new scientific paradigm has been labeled by a number of authors as “dynamic non-linear systems chaos” (Gleick, 1988), “the science of emergence” (Waldrop, 1992), “the new sciences of chaos, self-organization and complexity” (Prigogine & Stengers, 1984; Merry, 1995), “a deep ecological system” (Capra, 1996), and “complexity theory and complexity science” (Cohen & Stewart, 1994; Parker & Stacey, 1995; Mainzer, 1996; Chen, 2000). A brief historical summary of the western view of the world is shown in Table 2.1.

Chinese Wisdom

In ancient China, the golden age of Chinese philosophy was during the Zhou Dynasty (ca. 500–221 BC) and encompassed two complementary aspects of philosophy: life in society, and a higher plane of consciousness. These two aspects of Chinese philosophy were developed into two distinct philosophical schools: Confucianism and Daoism (or Taoism). Confucianism was the philosophy of social organization of common sense and practical knowledge. Daoism was developed from Yi Jing (The Book of Changes) (ca. 800 BC), in which the theory of Yin-Yang was the foundation of this earliest and greatest philosophy document of the Chinese. Daoism concerned the observation of nature and the discovery of its “Dao” (or “Tao,” the way of human life, the way of nature, the way of ultimate reality). This referred not only to the ways of the nature of the whole world, but also

signified an undifferentiated reality from which the universe has evolved (Blakeney & Lin, 1992).

The originator of Daoism was Lao Zi (ca. 600–500 BC) who wrote Dao De Jing (The Classic of the Way and Power). He described Dao—“the way” as the ultimate and undefinable reality in the original cosmic sense. It was the cosmic process in which all things were involved and the world was seen as a continuous flow and change. It was not only believed that flow and change were the essential features of nature, but also that there were constant patterns in these changes. The principle characteristic of Dao was the cyclic nature of its ceaseless motion and change. This idea of cyclic change patterns in the motion of Dao was given a definite structure by the introduction of the polar opposites “Yin” (negative) and “Yang” (positive). The dynamic character of Yin and Yang was illustrated by the ancient Chinese symbol called Tai Chi (or Tai Ji), and it became the fundamental concept of Chinese thought (Cheng, 1991).

New Science and Chinese Wisdom

The philosophy of science is the realm of rational knowledge. It is a system of abstract concepts and symbols that have been developed through the empirical process of reasoning, logic and mathematics; this is called the scientific method because it can be proved by repeatable experiments and observations by anybody. However, the world of reality is one of infinite varieties and complexities and it is clear that this abstract system of conceptual thinking can never describe reality completely (Capra, 1975). Most scientists admit that their methods of analysis and logical reasoning can never explain the whole realm of natural phenomena. Therefore all scientific models are qualified with assumptions and limitations, using statistical and probability approximations to confine the validity of the model to a certain range of phenomena.

12




Table 2.1 A Brief History of the Western View of the World

Western View of the World

Pre-Scientific (pre–1600s)

Scientific (1600s–ca. 1960)

New-Scientific (ca.1960–current)

Cosmology • Earth is stationary, at the center of the universe.

• The sun and planets orbit around the earth

• The earth orbit around the sun, as do all the rest of the planets in the solar system

• There are many suns and many galaxies in the universe

Ontology • The World is made of four elements: Earth, Air, Fire and Water.

• Objects are made of these elements

• The World is made of space and matter in motion

• Matter is made of atoms• Everything can be

explained in terms of the Laws of Nature

• The World functions as a system (different to the sum of its parts): – Systems theory– Chaos and Complexity– Ecology– Quantum mechanics

Epistemology • Empiricism• Induction—drawing

generalizations from specific examples

• Laws of Nature—from observation and draw a generalized theory

• Experimentation— hypothetical–deductive method

• Methodology still under construction—based on elements:– Experience– Intuition– Reflective thought

Universe • Organic—nature is alive• Anthropomorphic—

viewing nature as human beings “Organic Universe”

• Knowledge of nature—to control natural and social worlds

• Materialistic—matter• Reductionistic—

understanding by finding the smallest components “Laws of Universe”

• Everything is interconnected—systems too complex

• Complexity systems—to understand the nature “Holistic Universe”

Leaders and Theories

• Plato (Greece; 428 BC–348 BC)—Philosophy

• Aristotle (Greece; 384 BC–322 BC)—study of logic, physics, metaphysics

• Galilei, Galileo (1564– 1642)—astronomy & physics

• Descartes, René (1596–1650)—Scientific revolution, rationalism

• Newton, Isaac (1643–1727)—Laws of gravity and momentum

• Einstein (1879–1955)—Quantum mechanics, law of relativity, mass/energy

• Capra, Fritjof—Complexity theory

• Heisenberg, Weiner—quantum theory

• Bateson, Gregory—Ecology of mind

Source: Choy and Mak (2007)


13


Chinese philosophy on the other hand is based on direct insights into the nature of reality, rather than through rational knowledge (Capra, 1975). Siu (1957, p. 74) further commented, “Rational knowledge is rational only because it is obtainable through reason. The others obtainable through means other than reason are not irrational, they are ‘extra-rational’.” Capra (1975) agreed that this process is also empirical through numerous observations and experiences of reality by a few individuals on special occasions. Chinese philosophers insisted that the ultimate reality could never be an object of reasoning and never be adequately described by words, because it is beyond the realms of senses and the intellect of the human world. They were well aware of the limitations of language that all verbal descriptions of reality are inaccurate and incomplete. Instead, they expressed their thoughts in a language that could be short and inarticulate, but rich in symbols and suggestive images of myth. For instance, the famous text from Dao De Jing has been translated as “The Dao (way) that can be told is not the eternal Dao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name” (Feng & English, 1972). The differences between western and eastern approaches to knowledge are shown in Table 2.2.

Capra (1975), in his book “The Tao of Physics,” proposed that there is a very important parallel between the concepts of modern physics and the eastern view of philosophy. He pointed out that after the development of relativity theory and quantum theory, modern scientists are aware of the nature of the unity and mutual interrelation of all phenomena; and they came to recognize that all things are seen as interdependent and inseparable parts of the cosmic whole. He further recognized that the whole realm of natural phenomena is a dynamic interconnections and continuous changes in cyclic patterns with space and time; and believed that these theories in modern physics follow the philosophy of Heraclitus in ancient Greece. The Heraclitus’ concept of Logos emphasized that “everything flows” and that all changes are in cyclic patterns; this in turn led to the discovery that all opposites are polar and thus united. Capra (1975) was surprised that this great similarity between the concept of Dao and Heraclitus’ concept of Logos arose at about the same time during the sixth century BC, and concluded that modern science leads in the same direction towards a view of the world, which is very similar to the view of ancient eastern philosophy (See Table 2.3).

Table 2.2 Differences between Western and Eastern Approaches to Knowledge

Western Approach Eastern Approach

Nature of Knowledge • Linear—quantifies• Rational—Scientific knowledge

• Organic—intuitive• Absolute knowledge

Limitation of Language • Experiment—model • Theory—prediction • Express in language

• Intuitive—language• Symbols—myth

Empirical Attitude • Scientific experiment • Repeatable—anytime–anybody

• Mystical experience• A few individuals—at special

occasion

Limitations • Models—approximation & limitations

• Verbal—inaccurate & incomplete

14




Cooper-Marcus (1987, p. 10) further pointed out that as a number of holistic and interdisciplinary scholars have been pushing for a new paradigm of science, there are requirements “to balance masculine and feminine values, rational knowing with intuitive wisdom, action with contemplation, competition with co-operation.” She believed that “the mysteries of Chinese wisdom might be close to a truth beyond the ken of academic disciplines and current scientific logic” (Cooper-Marcus, 1987, p. 10).

FENG SHUI Knowledge

Feng Shui is a realm of knowledge and practice that has been developing throughout the existence of Chinese history and civilization, and has evolved from Chinese philosophy. It is founded from the earliest and greatest philosophy document, Yi Jing (The Book of Changes) that developed in ca. 800 BC. By the end of the Zhou Dynasty, when Daoism was established, the Yin-Yang Theory and Qi Theory had a distinct significance in the philosophy of Feng Shui. At an early stage, Feng Shui was used to determine the locations of houses or graves. The primitive knowledge of Feng Shui was based on observations from three sources: astronomical phenomena, natural phenomena and human behavior (Feuchtwang, 1974); it was an ancient Chinese wisdom which related to

architecture and built environment. The philosophy of Feng Shui was to achieve harmonization amongst heaven, earth and human beings by providing equilibrium amongst nature, buildings and people (Lee, 1986).

The most significant development of Feng Shui since the late Tang (618–907) and Song Dynasties (960–1279) has been the evolution of two distinct schools of practice: Compass and Form School. The Compass School was based primarily on the use of the Luopan (Feng Shui compass), and was composed of elements of time in space. The Compass School emphasized metaphysical speculations of cosmology that originated from Yi Jing (The Book of Changes). In particular, this school analyzed the directional aspects of a given site in terms of the relationships amongst the Five Elements, Eight Trigrams, Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches and Constellations (Lee, 1986). Direct reference to various astrological and other symbols is of utmost importance in the Compass School and its practice was highly formulaic (Skinner, 1982).

The Form school was concerned with the physical form of the site under consideration and its surrounding environment in order to detect the subtle flow of Qi. Form School practice first observed the land formation and terrain, and then determined the location and orientation of buildings. The Form School placed less emphasis on compass and cosmic symbology, and instead concentrated on the analysis of sites, seeing the shapes and imagery discerned in the landforms as

Table 2.3 Parallels between Western and Eastern Philosophy

New Science Heraclitus Eastern Philosophy

• Interdependent • Everything flows • World of continuous flow

• Inseparable • All changes in cyclic patterns • Cyclic nature & pattern of changes

• Interrelation • Polar opposite and united • Polar opposite and Tai Chi

• Continuous change in pattern

• Nature & unity


15


the primary importance (Mills, 1992). Its analysis was based on the Five Secret Geographical factors, namely dragon, sand, water, cave and direction (Lip, 1979). The development of the Form School has been widely accepted by the upper class of ancient Chinese society and attracted scholars and intellectuals to join its practice. The principles of the Form School were applied to the design and construction of castles, palaces and towns in China since ancient times (He and Luo, 1995). Lee (1986, p. 367) concluded that the principles and practices of the Form School approach represent “a compendium of Chinese architectural theory.”

After the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), these two schools of thought were not exclusively attached to their own methods for the practice of Feng Shui, but rather combined and integrated ideas with each other (Lee, 1986). However, the Form School approach remained the primary consideration in Feng Shui practice (Xu, 1990; Too, 1996).

Western Acceptance of Feng Shui Knowledge

In the nineteenth century, the concept of Feng Shui was first introduced to the West by missionaries to China, the Rev. Yates (1868) being the first to write an English article on the subject. In 1873, the Rev. E. J. Eitel published the first western book about Feng Shui and was followed by J. J. M. de Groot (1897). All these western writers described Feng Shui as a system which is half science and half superstition. Eitel (1984, p. 2) described Feng Shui as “a thing like wind, which you cannot comprehend, and like water, which you cannot grasp,” and Feng Shui was considered mysterious because it is abstract, invisible, untouchable and intangible.

Western world’s first real interest in Feng Shui began to develop in the late 1950s and early 1960s as evidenced by Needham’s study of traditional Chinese science (Needham, 1956, 1959). Being a

western-trained scientist himself, he recognized that Feng Shui explained the Chinese system of natural science and hence defined Feng Shui as “Pseudo-Science” (Needham, 1959, vol. 2, Section 14). Freedman (1968, p. 5) began to make connections between Feng Shui and the physical environment and described Feng Shui as “mystical ecology” concerned with “the ritual aspect of the interaction between men and their physical environment.” Under the influence of deeper understandings of the relationships between people and their surrounding environment in eastern philosophy, Lynch (1960, p. 139) realized that Feng Shui is “an opened analysis of the environment and the relationship amongst heaven, earth and human.” More explicitly, John Michell said in his commentary to Eitel’s book (Eitel, 1984, p. 72), “Chinese ‘natural science’ . . . is now becoming recognized as a model for the reformed code of science which the circumstances of our time are demanding.”

Recently, Feng Shui knowledge in particular the Form School approach has been recognized as comprising scientific basis in the analysis of the built environment (He, 1990; Wang, 1992a; Cheng & Kong, 1993). One of the most important research investigations, carried out by Xu (1990), has compared the Feng Shui concepts using the Form School approach and the Hendler model, a well-known western model of site analysis. The results indicated that Feng Shui has proved to be a more powerful tool in site analysis than the Hendler model. Also, Mills (1992) investigated the spiritual landscapes of burial mound sites in the Upper Mississippi river basin and Feng Shui practice in tomb siting with particular reference to the Form School approach. The results suggested that there are many similarities between these approaches even though they spring from very different cultural backgrounds.

Summary

Feng Shui, literally translates as “wind” and “water,” is a body of ancient Chinese knowledge for

16



improving the relationship between people and the environment. It has had a great impact on Chinese architectural theories and practices for thousands of years. In the nineteenth century, western scholars first classified Feng Shui as a mixture of superstition, religious sentiment, and observational science. Since the emergence of the new scientific paradigm in the 1970s, however, western scientists have found that the “scientific methods” of analysis and logical reasoning can never explain the whole

realm of natural phenomena, and begun to seek for deeper understanding of the relationships between humans and natural environment. They recognized that there are similarities between modern science and eastern philosophy. As a consequence, westerners have also changed their attitude towards the ancient Chinese’s view of nature and the environment, realizing that the principles and practices of Feng Shui could contribute to the built environment.

SCIENTIFIC METHODSAND

FENG SHUI STUDY

33© 2011 City University of Hong Kong © 2011 City University of Hong Kong

18



A Scientific Approach to Feng Shui Study

Scientific method is not something tangible; it cannot be seen nor grasped in your hands. It refers to the objective ways and systems of gaining, organizing, analyzing, summarizing and the keeping of data or information in the form of knowledge that can be passed down through history. There are stringent requirements for such methods and different schools of practicing them. What do we need to understand science, empirical science more precisely, in order to study Feng Shui? Without any approach in terms of scientific methods, the study would soon fall prey to superstition. This chapter highlights the basic philosophy of science, the definition of scientific theories, and the recognition of different types of scientific methods as well as the main concerns of science. It is hoped that readers will always bear in mind the essence of scientific method when studying Feng Shui in order to avoid blindly accepting or rejecting something. We must always keep an open mind to analyze any rules or theories proffered by different schools of Feng Shui. Only in this way will the study of Feng Shui be able to gain favor from the world of academia, scientists, and eventually, the sceptics. An important part of this chapter was extracted from a lecture and handout by Dr. Kwok Chun Wong of The University of Hong Kong. The authors would like to acknowledge his contribution to the book.

Empirical Science

Wikipedia.com reveals that “science” (from Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge”), in the broadest sense, refers to any systematic knowledge or practice (Webster, 2007). Examples include the expressions like “political science” and “computer science,” which are named according to the older and more general use of the word. In a more restricted sense, “science” refers to a system of acquiring knowledge based on scientific methods,

as well as to the organized body of knowledge gained through such research (Popper, 1959).

Different fields of science are commonly classified along two major lines, namely natural sciences which study natural phenomena (including biological life), and social sciences which study human behavior and societies. These groupings are “empirical sciences,” which means that the knowledge must be based on observable phenomena capable of being tested for validity by other researchers working under the same conditions.

There are three generally-held principles of empirical science. Firstly, viewing a natural phenomenon or activity is based on subjective human judgments, but such judgments must be agreed among those viewing the same phenomenon or activity. Here, “phenomena” usually refer to those studied in natural sciences, while “activities” in social sciences. Scientifically, the concepts of phenomena, facts, behavior, activities and observations are quite similar.

Secondly, all phenomena or activities confirmed in a scientific way must be objective and have regular patterns, i.e., they are not entirely random in the normal sense. Although quantum physics may seem to be an exception in the sense that it deals with the probability of occurrence of phenomena, such probability does follow a pattern as phenomena seen in our daily life due to a quantum effect are normally predictable.

Finally, any phenomenon or activity must have one or more corresponding causes. Such cause(s) can be described and explained, and the subsequent occurrence of the phenomenon or activity can be conjectured or speculated.

According to empirical science, a fact which is observable cannot be explained by another fact, and the regular pattern of a fact must be described or explained by abstract concepts built upon facts. For example, raining and the formation of clouds are two different facts. One cannot explain the phenomenon of raining by the formation of clouds. The tiny water molecules inside clouds have to be imagined to form clusters together, become


19

3. Scientific Methods and Feng Shui Study


heavy and finally fall in the form of rain. Without description or explanation based on abstract reasoning, nobody can learn anything or formulate any knowledge merely from the observable facts.

Scientific method seeks to explain the events of nature in a reproducible way, and to use these reproductions for useful predictions. It is done through an observation of natural phenomena and/or through experimentation. It provides an objective process to find solutions to problems. Scientists use models to refer to a description or depiction of something, specifically one which can be used to make predictions that can be tested by an experiment or observation.

Scientists use three special terms to describe the nature of the conclusions which are reached after experiment or observation. A hypothesis is a contention that is neither well supported nor ruled out by experiments. A theory is a logically self-consistent model or framework for describing the behavior of certain natural phenomena, which can normally describe the behavior of much broader sets of phenomena than a hypothesis. A physical law or law of nature is a scientific generalization based on a sufficiently large number of empirical observations taken as fully verified.

Scientific Theory

All hypotheses, theories, and laws of science that can describe or explain a phenomenon must be refutable by facts. In other words, scientific statements are those that can be wrong but are not yet proven wrong. Scientists never claim absolute knowledge of nature or the behavior of the subject under study. Unlike a mathematical proof, a scientific theory is empirical, and is always open to modification or complete rejection if new evidence is found. Even the most basic and fundamental theories may turn out to be imperfect if new observations are inconsistent with them. One critical process is to make every relevant aspect of research publicly available, which allows peer

review of published results, ongoing reviews and repeated experiments and observations by multiple independent researchers. Only by fulfilling these expectations can a concept be proven reliable for potential use by others.

Sometimes ad hoc theories are proposed but they may have too many assumptions. Any theory that has been refuted can very often be saved by adding more criteria but the price may be too high. A good theory is one that can explain more but is simple enough. The Occam’s razor (sometimes called Ockham’s razor) is a principle attributed to the fourteenth century English Franciscan friar and scholastic philosopher, William of Ockham. The principle states that the explanation of any phenomenon should make as few assumptions as possible, eliminating those that make no difference in the observable predictions of the explanatory hypothesis or theory. That is why modern scientists look for “beauty” in a law of physics. Here, “beauty” refers to the simplicity and perfection of the theory. As a result, scientists may tend to believe in a theory (such as the string theory, for example) before they can get an observable proof if the theory is “beautiful enough.”

The Logical Approach

Karl Popper discussed the logic of scientific discovery from the viewpoint of refutation. An objection, also known as a refutation, is a reason arguing against a premise, lemma, or main contention. And an objection to an objection is called a rebuttal. In Chinese literature, we have an idiom saying that “All crows on Earth are ubiquitously black in color,” which means that people of the same class or the same type are all bad. Let us say, for example, that a zoologist found 10,000 crows or ravens that were all black. He might then conclude that “all crows are black.” However, this theory may not be absolutely true as there is every possibility that the 10,001st crow is in white. This is what we mean that the statement

20



can be wrong. As a matter of fact, albino crows exist, destroying the validity of the idiom if it is treated as a scientific theory.

A theory incapable of being wrong can hardly be used to predict something, for example, all bachelors are unmarried men. This statement can never be wrong and it is called a tautology. Tautologies are analytic statements, the truth value of which depends purely on logic. For example, (A and B) or (Not A) or (Not B) is a tautology because whatever A or B is, the entire statement is still true. We can check this by using a truth table as shown in Table 3.1.

As shown from Table 3.1, A and B can either be “true” (T) or “false” (F). “A and B” can only be true when both A is true and B is true. For an “or” operation, the final result is true if either one of the many variables is true. So, no matter what truth value does A or B take, the resultant statement is always true. And this is called tautology.

The negation of a tautology is a contradiction, a sentence that is false regardless of the truth values of its propositional variables, i.e., the A and B in the previous example, and the negation of a contradiction is simply a tautology. An example of a contradiction is the statement: “A cat is not a cat.”

A statement that is neither a tautology nor a contradiction is logically contingent. For example, the statement, “The sun rises in the East” is logically contingent because it can be false. One day, if the Earth’s self rotation is in reverse due to

an impact of a big meteor, we shall find that the sun rises from the West. Such a statement can be made either true or false by choosing an appropriate interpretation of its propositional variables. Only such statements are meaningful in science.

It is often difficult to determine whether a very long and complicated statement is a tautology. This field of study is known as “automated theorem proving.” When substitution is implemented, it is far more difficult to judge a statement. For example, if A is replaced by (C or D) and B is replaced by (if C then E), we shall have the new statement:

X = ((C or D) and (if C then E)) or ((not C and not D) or (not (if C then E))) which is still a tautology although difficult to identify. Let’s refer to another truth table (see Table 3.2).

In order to s impl i fy the tab le , cer ta in mathematical symbols have been used. “And” is represented by and “Or” is represented by and “if - then” is represented by . A statement of is true whenever the “then” part is true. So, from the truth table, we can see that though the statement, X, is so complicated, it is still a tautology. Readers may imagine that if all such C, D and E are sentences describing something happening in our daily life, it is very difficult for us to judge that it is a tautology. In metaphysics, readers must be careful about encountering tautologies put forward by the masters or authoritative literature.

For example, when a boy says “I’ll love you forever!” to a girl, it is not as impressive as saying “no matter the sky will collapse or not, the sea will

Table 3.1 Truth Table—A / B

A B Not A Not B A and B (A and B) or (Not A) or (Not B)

T T F F T T

T F F T F T

F T T F F T

F F T T F T


21



dry up or not, I’ll love you forever!” The first two parts of the latter statement are merely tautologies. It is because the sky can either collapse or not collapse while the sea can either dry up or not dry up; so the first two parts simply always return true value, i.e., meaningless.

Only by using a truth table are we able to tell if a statement is a tautology or not. However, with the increasing number of propositional variables, it is extremely difficult, though not impossible, to draw out the truth table as the number of valuations that must be checked increases as 2k, where k is the number of variables in the statement.

Besides tautology, there are four other situations in which a theory cannot be turned down by evidence. Firstly, a vague theory that is not well defined can never be proven wrong. For example, a good guy will also achieve good results. The “good” here is not well defined and it is impossible to prove that this statement is wrong.

Secondly, a contradictory theory can never be proven wrong, e.g., a pure white sheet with black spots. When there are black spots on a pure white sheet, it is not white any more.

Thirdly, a theory that cannot explain anything due to the non-existence of elements inside the

theory, e.g., the statement “pipi can lead to didi” can never be falsified because there is nothing called “pipi” or “didi” in the world.

Finally, a theory that can explain anything due to the unlimited phenomena to be deduced, e.g., “A can lead to B, C, D, E, . . . or anything” can always be verified.

Contrary to an analytic statement, the validity of a synthetic statement cannot be decided on pure logic. One needs to check facts and observable phenomena of the empirical world to judge whether a synthetic statement is true or false. These statements are therefore testable hypotheses or refutable implications. All existing laws in natural sciences belong to this category. For example, the force applied to an object is proportional to the linear acceleration of it if the mass of the object is constant. This is the second Newton’s Law of Motion. Throughout the centuries, many experiments have been performed to verify this law.

Therefore, deriving testable hypotheses is to stick one’s neck out, taking the chance of being rejected or refuted. The process will be ongoing until one’s theory is rejected by evidence. That’s why Karl Popper argued that scientific discoveries are achieved by refutations, not by induction.

Table 3.2 Truth Table—C / D / E

C D E C → D C → E ∼C ∼D ∼(C → E) ((C D) ( C → E)) X

T T T T T F F T T

T T F T F F T F T

T F T T T F F T T

T F F T F F T F T

F T T T T F F T T

F T F T F F T F T

F F T F T T F F T

F F F F F T T F T

22



Readers are reminded to bear this in mind whenever they come across any theories or rules in Feng Shui. This approach to study Feng Shui is then known as “Scientific Feng Shui” as suggested by the authors.

However, Popper’s logic carries one drawback. What if counter examples exist? If the zoologist found one white crow while the next 100,000 found by him were all black, should the theory, “all crows are black” be turned down immediately based on Popper’s logic of refutation? Obviously, the theory of “all crows are white” is incorrect because the zoologist could find only one white crow, i.e., the albino one. At this stage, Popper’s logic is incapable of distinguishing one theory from another although he once addressed this issue by proposing the concept of “degree of corroboration” which increases with the degree of testability of a hypothesis but that is still loose and unclear. Corroborated evidence is evidence that tends to support a proposition already supported by some previous evidence.

Hans Reichenbach, a leading philosopher of science, an educator and proponent of logical empiricism (Reichenbach, 1951), proposed that scientists advance their theories by observations and posits, i.e., axioms. The more the number of observations a scientist makes, the closer is the convergence to the scientist’s posit. Posits are by definition inductives as they involve the proposal of general rules based on limited, known and particular facts. When a counter example is discovered to attack an established theory, this theory is not rejected immediately, but initiates a search for a better theory to explain existing known facts as well as the counter example. Nevertheless, before the new, more appropriate and comprehensive theory is found, the existing theory continues to be used. Compared to Popper’s degree of corroboration and testability, Reichenbach’s inductive probability may be much more practical and provide a better guide to the advancement of science.

Having said that, Popper’s principle of refutation is still important. Finding a crow which is not black

tells us more about the biological world regarding DNA mutation. So, Popper’s logic is still useful in explaining our empirical world.

Scientific Method

Scientific method is a process by which scientists, collectively and over time, endeavor to construct an accurate, reliable, consistent, and non-arbitrary representation of the real world. Recognizing that personal and cultural beliefs heavily influence both our perceptions and interpretations of natural phenomena, scientists aim, through the use of standard procedures and criteria, to minimize those influences when developing a theory. It is because if we do not have a conscientious set of protocols to develop a theory and eventually a law, smart people—as a famous scientist once said—can always come up with very good explanations for mistaken points of view. Overall, a scientific method attempts to minimize the influence of bias or prejudice of the experimenter when testing a hypothesis or a new theory.

There are in general four steps that must be followed to study some phenomena by a scientific method:

(1) the observation and description of a phenomenon or activity or a group of phenomena;

(2) the formulation of a hypothesis to explain the phenomenon; (an abstract one; recall that a fact cannot be used to explain a fact). In physics, such a hypothesis often takes the form of a causal mechanism or a mathematical relation;

(3) using the hypothesis to predict the existence or occurrence of other phenomena, or to quantitatively predict the result of any new observations;

(4) the performance of experimental tests of the predictions by several independent experimenters and properly regulated experiments.


23



If the experiments bear out the hypothesis, it may come to be regarded as a theory or ultimately a law of nature. If the hypothesis is not borne out by experiment, it must either be rejected or modified. However, it must be recalled that the modification must not involve too many assumptions as the Occam’s Razor principle advises that a theory built on too many assumptions is usually an incorrect one. There are quite a number of common mistakes related to scientific methods:

(1) It is easy for a scientist to be influenced by his/her own culture and preference, in particular in areas of social sciences.

(2) Sometimes “common sense” and “obvious logic” tempt a scientist into believing that no test or experiment is needed to verify a hypothesis.

(3) Certain data not supporting a hypothesis can easily be ignored or ruled out as errors or noise.

(4) Converse ly, systematic errors can sometimes override useful data, causing a scientist to miss something important. There are many examples of alleged “new discoveries” which are later proven to be prone to systematic errors not accounted for by the “discoverers.”

(5) A phenomenon may be due to several causes, while one cause has to be isolated from other confounding factors to be verified to be genuine. This process is extremely difficult when the study is not confined to a controlled environment.

(6) There are circumstances where the scientist cannot isolate a phenomenon or cannot make the measurement repeatedly. Statistical analysis on the history of occurrence of the phenomenon has to be relied on, in which case it may sometimes be misleading as correlation of limited data may not reveal the truth.

Five common scientific research methods are briefly discussed below. They can be used in the study of Feng Shui with great care.

Experimental Method

Experimental method is practiced by a scientist who manipulates a variable (anything that can change) under highly controlled conditions to investigate if such a variable produces or causes any changes to a second variable. For example, the second Newton’s Law of Motion is used again. This variable, or variables, that the researcher manipulates is called the independent variable(s) (sometimes referred to as antecedent conditions) while the second variable, one measured for changes, is called the dependent variable. Here, the external force on an object is then the independent variable while the linear acceleration produced is the dependent variable.

Most disciplines of natural sciences rely on this method because scientists are interested in understanding the cause-and-effect relationship of phenomena in nature. In order to see this relationship, the researcher must make sure that the manipulations of the independent variables are the only variables having an effect on the dependent variables. All other variables that may have an effect on the dependent variables must be kept constant. In our example, the mass, one variable as well, of the object must be kept constant. As a matter of fact, the second Newton’s Law of Motion does take care of the variation in mass but its discussion is beyond the scope of this book. Performing such experiment is difficult in two respects. First, it is sometimes impossible to single out one independent variable from the variables. Second, the scientist does not actually know how many variables in nature are affecting the dependent variables.

The major l imitat ion of this method is practicality. It can only be used when it is ethical, economical and possible for the researcher to manipulate the antecedent conditions. At the same time, the effect must be observable within a reasonable time duration. With regards to this, although it would be highly desirable, it is very often not entirely feasible to conduct experiments along these lines in the study of Feng Shui. First, the researcher is not allowed to change the landscape

24



of an auspicious site in order to test whether something disastrous may otherwise happen. Second, it is believed that the effect of Feng Shui engineering can only be observable in decades or even centuries.

Correlation

Correlation is classified as a non-experimental and descriptive method which is used when variables cannot be directly or freely manipulated by the scientist. Though it is a type of research method in its own right, it is more of a mathematical technique for summarizing data as a statistical tool. A correlative study is designed to determine the degree and direction of relationship between two or more variables or measures of behavior. Quantitatively, a coefficient of correlation is a numerical index of this relationship. A positive correlation, indicated by a positive sign, implies a direct relationship, meaning that a high score on one variable is associated with that on the second variable, while of course the reverse applies for a negative correlation. The magnitude of the coefficient indicates the strength of relationship, varying from –1.00 to 0.00 for a negative correlation and from 0.00 to +1.00 for a positive one.

When two variables are strongly related, and the stronger the better, it is possible to predict the performance of one from the other. For example, psychologists and educators in the United States know that there is a fairly strong relationship (about + 0.50 to + 0.60) between scores on the SAT or ACT results and GPAs in college. So, most universities in the US rely on these test results for admission requirements.

The strength of correlation can be used when it is impractical or unethical to manipulate the variables. However, the greatest limitation is that it cannot tell whether the relationship is causal. It only shows that two variables, with the provision of limited data, are apparently related in a systematic way. Sometimes, the stock market can be correlated to results of soccer games when

the availability of data is limited and focused. Of course, the coefficient becomes smaller and smaller, with relationship being weaker and weaker, as more data is available.

Having said that, correlation remains a promising method to study Feng Shui. Provided that historical data can show us the prosperity of cities as well as some descriptive evaluations based on well established Feng Shui theories, we may be able to find out the correlation between Feng Shui and the built environment.

Naturalistic Observation

This is classified under the broader category of field studies, a type of non-experimental approach which is mainly used in real-life settings. The scientist carefully observes and records a particular behavior or phenomenon, sometimes over a prolonged period, in its natural setting. The subjects under investigation are not directly interfered with in any sense, such as studies in social sciences involving the observation of humans or animals as they go about their activities in real-life settings, or in natural sciences, observing the eruption of a volcano.

The major strength of naturalistic observation is that it allows researchers to observe behavior in the setting in which it naturally occurs, rather than in the artificial and limited setting in a laboratory. Further applications of the naturalistic observation approach may include studying nature for its own sake, or using nature to validate some laboratory findings or theoretical concepts. Nonetheless, this method has quite a number of limitations. Firstly, it is descriptive, not explanatory. The cause-and-effect relationship between variables cannot be drawn. Secondly, this method is both time and labor consuming. Finally, since it is not permissible to disrupt nature, it is difficult to codify results in a manner appropriate for statistical analysis. Naturalistic observation has been used for millennia by Feng Shui masters to uncover the relationship between the harmony of nature, mankind and good fortune, but it has never been done in a systematic


25



and consistent manner. Traditionally, Feng Shui masters observed the circumstances of people at interesting sites, such as those where the mountains and rivers were of special patterns, and also took into account the orientation of the cities which were to be built. It is the obligation of modern Feng Shui researchers to improve this approach to make Feng Shui study more scientific.

Surveys

The Survey method does not involve direct observation by a researcher. Inferences about behavior are made from data collected via interview or questionnaires which commonly include an assortment of forced-choice questions (e.g., true or false, or one out of five ranks etc.) or opened-ended questions (e.g., essays in short answers) to which subjects are asked to respond. This mode of data collection is sometimes referred to as a self-report. Surveys are particularly useful when researchers are interested in collecting data on aspects of behavior that are difficult to observe directly, mainly related to the thinking and opinion of individuals when it is desirable to obtain a large sample of subjects.

The major limitation is that it is based on opinion of people instead of on actual fact. For example, when people were asked about the shape of the Earth some six hundred years ago, everybody would reply it was a flat table. Intentional deception, poor memory, poor knowledge or a misunderstanding of the question may all contribute to inaccuracy in the data. This method is also descriptive, not explanatory, and is not able to tell the cause-and-effect relationship between variables.

S ince superst i t ion ar i ses f rom people ’s misunderstanding and ignorance, it is unfortunate that such surveys can wholly reflect the blind faith of people towards some irrational Feng Shui theories or

rules. Of course, it is possible to use surveys to find out the impact of Feng Shui on citizens as a study in social science, but such surveys may have limited use for verifying Feng Shui hypotheses.

Case Study

Case Study is also a non-experimental and descriptive method, involving an in-depth descriptive record kept by an outside observer of an individual or group of individuals. In social sciences, this often involves collecting and examining various observations and records of an individual’s experiences and/or behaviors. Typical data collected may include biographical data, medical records, family history, observations, interviews, and the results of various psychological tests. In natural science, it may involve in-depth study of a particular animal or group of animals or some detailed investigation of a particular physical phenomenon.

Case studies are particularly useful when researchers want to get a detailed contextual view of an individual’s life or of a particular phenomenon and when it is not practical or ethical to do experiments. Again, this method cannot give us the cause-and-effect relationship. Much of the information collected is retrospective, i.e., recollections of past events, and hence its accuracy is very sensitive to problems inherent to memory.

In Feng Shui, interesting cases can be looked into more details. However, the results cannot be universally applicable to other situations. Case study can be used in Feng Shui when cases can be treated as illustrative examples for reference by researchers and readers. In this book, Chapters 10 and 11 are case studies related to Form School approach, while Chapter 17 provides case studies according to Compass School methods.

part a scientific feng shui · 2. science and feng shui of a new scientific paradigm (kuhn, 1970)....

Documents