Re: You say that science is not about truth, meaning, knowledge, or faith

reany_at_asu.edu
Date: 03/04/05 

Date: 4 Mar 2005 10:38:43 -0800

AllYou! wrote:
> <reany@asu.edu> wrote in message
> news:1109952473.951304.113220@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com...
> >
> > AllYou! wrote:
> > > <reany@asu.edu> wrote in message
> > > news:1109942582.169264.37990@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
> > [snip]
> > >
> > > That's because you're horribly confused.
> > >
> > > > I
> > > > wasn't there. But in our own lives, I will try to say. Theories
are
> > > > about explaining. Explaining is about meaning. And meaning goes
> > back to
> > > > archephors.
> > >
> > > Theories are predictions. Meaning has no relevance in science.
> > That's a philosophical
> > > issue. How many times must I tell you that physics isn't
> > metaphysics?
> >
> >
> > Sorry, that statement looks interesting - maybe even profound --
but it
> > has no meaning to me because you say that meaning has no relevance
in
> > science. ;-)
>
> I'm sure you feel that way.
>
> >
> > >
> > > > As for your other logical error:
> > > >
> > > > If I say that A is not B, you cannot imply that A and B have
empty
> > > > intersection, like when I say that physics is not metaphysics.
> > > > Metaphysics deals with all questions related to existence.
Physics
> > is a
> > > > science that attempts to explain phenomena. To accomplish this,
> > physics
> > > > needs to assume the existence of at least people who make
> > measurements
> > > > and the measuring instruments themselves.
> > >
> > > People and measuring instruments are no different to any other
> > objects. All we do is make
> > > observations of them.
> >
> > Wrong. People who make measurements have a special and unique role
in
> > science. The buck always stops at some human, not some machine or
> > something else. Vetting experiments and peer-reviewed theories is a
> > uniquely human responsibility in science.
>
> You're changing the subject.

I didn't change the subject! You said that all objects are the same to
science; they aren't.

> According to you, the existence of anything is a free
> invention of the human mind, and people consist of matter, as do
measuring instruments.

That is totally wrong!!! I define my "internal world" as the set of my
mental concepts and all my thoughts. I define the "external world" as
all else. I believe, contrary to what Weston constantly lies about me,
that there exists an external world independent of my thoughts (my
internal world). However, the internal world of concepts, which I use
to model or describe what may or may not be in the external world
(which is unknowable), are freely invented: that is, my internal world
is NOT forced on me by the external world, even though I admit that
there seems to be strong natural tendencies on how this "mapping"
between them occurs. That is, I believe, a little part of what Einstein
meant by "persistent illusion."

[snip]
>
> > You say that science is not about truth, meaning, knowledge, or
faith!
> > What the hell, then, is it about?
>
> It's about building an increasingly more reliable model of an
increasing broader realm of
> all that which we observe. You should keep an open mind about this.

Then you don't deny my claim? The purpose of this 'model' of yours is
what?

Patrick

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