Decline of scholarly confidence or increase of scholarly humility?

Interesting study: Over the last 60 years, researchers in four fields have used more "hedge" words (like 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘴, 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦, 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, and 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴) and fewer "booster" words (like 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘺, 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺, and 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴).
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1634848/full

#Epistemology

How should numeric probabilities be translated into words? Maybe they shouldn't be.

"Words of estimative probability" wreak havoc in high-stakes communication like #intelligenceCommunity assessments and briefings, in part because intelligence and defense institutions map numbers to different words (!) — see Amelia Kahn's forthcoming work at ameliakahn.wordpress.com.

#defense #nationalSecurity #decisionScience #psychology #epistemology #xPhi #cogSci #SciComm #Communication #PhilSci

Interesting piece that challenges the metaphors we use (usually unconsciously) to describe biology:

"What I wish to point out is the lack of other metaphors. Precisely because no metaphor is perfect, we should employ multiple metaphors, each explaining certain aspects of the cell. Unfortunately, the centralised and hierarchical metaphor, so pervasive in textbooks, is often the only one for the internal workings of the cell."

#ScientificWriting
#PhilosophyOfScience

https://aeon.co/essays/biology-is-not-as-hierarchical-as-most-textbooks-paint-it