From: J. R. Molloy (jr@shasta.com)
Date: Tue Oct 02 2001 - 14:08:35 MDT
The skeptic prevails
http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/shermer/shermer_print.html
"The one thing we've learned from the last three decades of research is that
science is socially and culturally embedded and thus biased. Still, it's the
best system we have for understanding causality in all realms, in all fields.
So despite the fact that it's loaded with biases, there is a real world out
there that we can know and the best way to know it is through science. The
reason for that is because there's at least a method, an attempt to
corroborate one's own subjective perceptions. There's a way to find out if you
and I are seeing the same colors when we see red. There's actually a way to
test these things, or at least try to get at them. That's what separates
science from everything else.
--Michael Shermer
--- --- --- --- ---
Useless hypotheses, etc.:
consciousness, phlogiston, philosophy, vitalism, mind, free will, qualia,
analog computing, cultural relativism, GAC, Cyc, Eliza, cryonics, individual
uniqueness, ego, human values, scientific relinquishment
We move into a better future in proportion as science displaces superstition.
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