Hey Glenn,
Some comments on your comments...
> RICK:(from last time)
> "The problems were always there. But I think the resentment of science
> comes not because it is seen as the root, but because it is seen as
> apathetic. Social notions of morals and values imply limits. But science
> doesn't recognize social values (or as Pirsig might say, science has no
> provision for morals) and so it can't and won't respect those limits."
GLENN
> This is the MOQ party line, but it's wrong. Science absolutely
> recognizes social values. Science caused the ozone problem (presumably)
> but it also discovered the problem and suggested rememdies (stopping CFC
> discharge). Who but science tries to ensure drugs invented
> by science are safe? Geneticists have joined the debate over genetic
> research. Engineers design mechanisms in nuclear power plants to make
> them safer. The late great Carl Sagan wrote his opinion on the nuclear
> power debate.
RICK
I hate to split hairs, but while I agree with what you wrote, I'd like
to point out that you haven't provided any examples of *science* recognizing
social values, rather, you've only provided examples of *scientists*
recognizing social values. Scientists are humans like anyone else, and
nobody (as far as I know) is disputing that *scientists* can't recognize
social values. Rather, the point is that the science itself is immune to
social goods. Science lights the way and illuminates our options, but it
doesn't distinguish between them qualitatively. It takes a human to do
that.
GLENN
Why would he or any other scientist bother to do these things if science
doesn't recognize social values?
RICK
Because those scientists recognize those social values themselves, as
all people do. The content of the science has nothing to do with it.
rick
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