Sorry. I feel like reacting to that:
Martin Crim:
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>And those who defend the primacy of science in general remind me
>awfully of the Creationists. They've got their model, and anything that
>doesn't fit in the model is either irrelevant or a deception.
Come on. This can't be for real. How long has it been since you have seen your last scientist?
And who has defended the *primacy* of science? To say you believe in
what science says, or predicts, does not mean that you believe in
nothing else.
I am a scientist. (Well, let's say that's the way I consider myself.)
That doesn't mean I am not interested in litterature, art, history of
religions or old languages. And it doesn't mean either that I can't
dream. I love Glorantha. I love myth, legends and fantasy. And still, I
believe in science.
Maybe scientists *are* more open-minded than you think.
>>In the RW, science works.
>>[...]
>This is hilarious, for two reasons. First, actual science is much
>messier than this, and actually relies upon the concensus of a
>self-selected group--and that concensus historically only changes when
>an older generation of scientists dies off.
You are wrong on this. The fact that science evolves, makes mistakes and learns how to correct them is the proof of its being open-minded. Science is open to everything because it needs to be so: if you don't look around, you'll miss things. If you think your way of seeing a problem is the only one, then you'll stay stuck in your errors. That's how a scientist learns to think.
And science *does* work. You write to us using a computer, right? You get light just by asking for it. You take planes. Man walks on the Moon. There is dream in that. And, if you know how to look at it, there is some magic too. And it works. (well, maybe computers do have problems once in a while, now that I think of it... :)
>Second, science is a _tool_.
Science is more than a simple tool. Science is all what the human race
has ever been, has ever lived for: curiosity.
Science means To Know. Science is the purest of all things: the quest
for knowledge. It should include everything, even what you like or whom
you love.
Humans have mastered fire, it was science. Agriculture was science. Town
building. Invention of writing (IMO the most wonderful thing man ever
invented). Medical research. History. Philosophy. Movies! And the reach
for the stars.
Even religions are science: the need to have answers.
For one question that science answers, it brings forth ten new questions. And that's what is great. Scientists would feel very depressed if all questions were to be solved.
Of all words, none carries more meanings than this one. So it should never be used is such restrictive ways.
Hmm... Maybe it sounds like God Learner speech. Or illuminated. But that's the way I feel.
Regards, Thomas.
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