[extropy-chat] Role of Observer is not Relevant

Lee Corbin lcorbin at rawbw.com
Wed Mar 28 00:50:58 UTC 2007


Jef writes

> I try to share a more sophisticated epistemology...and support this
> firstly by declaring that *all* observation is indirect...

Different conventions, I guess.  To me, objects are seen by 
someone or something, and that's all.  To you, perhaps that's
just an everyday abbreviation for "the photons bouncing off
the car are seen", and in turn, that is probably shorthand for
something even more indirect that involves more truths about
the seer (such as nerve endings or retinas).  ("There are *no*
direct observations", you write.  Are there direct references, I 
wonder, just for the sake of curiosity?)

As Sunny Auyang wrote in her great physics/philosophy
book "How Is Quantum Field Theory Possible",

    "I have never seen a sense impression in my life."

Lee




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