RE: MD On Faith

From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Fri Oct 08 2004 - 14:40:17 BST

  • Next message: Platt Holden: "RE: MD On Faith"

    Hi Scott, all,

    On 7 Oct 2004 at 23:19, Scott Roberts wrote:

    Mark et al,

    > msh says:
    > Yep. And people who spend a lot of energy downplaying the value of
    > science, math, and logic are to me always suspect. Robert Duvall,
    > the great American actor, was once asked what he thought about
    movie
    > critics. He said: "Show me a critic and I'll show you a failure."

    > His meaning is clear, and applies to critics of science, math and
    > logic. I think it's time to start checking college transcripts.

    Couldn't agree more about those who downplay the value of science,
    math, and logic, but no one in this thread has. Though I think it is
    overstated, Platt's point is that scientists also operate within a
    faith structure.

    msh says:
    To sate that scientists have "faith" in science in the way theists
    have "faith" in God is to denigrate science, as well as to reveal a
    high ignorance of scientific method. It is a grotesque and dishonest
    use of the word.

    Platt's list of scientific "faiths", to the extent that it is at all
    accurate, is nothing more than a list of apriori assumptions made in
    order to kick-start a highly valuable system of thought. You might
    as well say that mathematicians have faith in the square root of two.

    Finally, science has a history of well-defined mistakes and
    corrections. Religious faith is, by definition, not falsifiable.
    Any attempt to draw some faith-based parallel between science and
    religion is doomed to failure if not fraud.

    Best,
    Mark
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