S&S vs. SF in BotNS

António Pedro Marques · 23 Dec 2011, 11:15 · from 2011-December.txt.gz

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From: entonio at gmail.com (=?UTF-8?B?QW50w7NuaW8gUGVkcm8gTWFycXVlcw==?=)
Date: Fri, 23 Dec 2011 11:15:20 +0000
Subject: (urth) S&S vs. SF in BotNS
In-Reply-To: <4EF414CF.3000700 at clueland.com>
References: <SNT123-W6264EC536A69C6A6153331CFAA0 at phx.gbl>
	<4EF414CF.3000700 at clueland.com>
Message-ID: <4EF462C8.909 at gmail.com>

Jeff Wilson wrote (23-12-2011 05:42):
> On 12/22/2011 2:20 PM, Lee Berman wrote:
>> I hope you won't try the argument that Zeus' thunderbolts and witches
>> crop hexings was fake while sub-atomic physics and neurosurgery are
>> real. Ancient experts predicted thunderstorms and crop failures and
>> they were usually right and came to be believed. You have never seen an
>> electron and you have not done original research on the subject.
>> Electricity seems to work so you believe the experts who tell you how
>> it works. Same for brain surgery when you submit to the knife. Belief
>> in science and technology is fully a matter of faith as much as
>> mythology/religion.
>
> You're overlooking reproducible results. Preindustrial crop hexings are
> not reproducible by witches, while electrons are tamed well enough that
> we can reproduce Zeus-strength lightning as necessary and prevent it from
> striking houses when it occurs naturally.

It may be so, but we could do much of that with classical science. 'Our 
Theory of Gravitation is as good as perfect', ironical or not, was written 
in the first half of the 19th century. 'We' got to the Moon without the 
fancy computers and mobile communications of today. Current science may be 
impresssive in comparison to that of just a few decades ago, but it doesn't 
follow that it has a technological import of the same magnitude. At the end 
of the day, it works better than praying to Zeus, but so does Classical 
Physiscs. For the common man, it's a matter of having access to services. 
This is a matter in which I find myself in complete agreement with Lee - 
'[y]ou have never seen an electron and you have not done original research 
on the subject', '[e]lectricity seems to work so you believe the experts who 
tell you how it works' express very well my own view on the subject. The 
only thing missing - unless it was there but you haven't quoted it - is ... 
after a 2 hour break for a meeting, I don't remember anymore what it was 
that I thought was worth mentioning here, only that it was worth it.

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