[ExI] The difference between Discovery and Design.

[Damien Broderick]

On 7/27/2011 2:44 PM, Dan wrote:

> I'm not a scholar of Aristotle, but I don't recall him rejecting
> experiment in his work.

He didn't have to *reject* it because it wasn't part of the Zeitgeist. 
The canonical Omg! wtf? example of error easily corrected by a moment's 
looking was his confident assertion that women have fewer teeth than men.

<Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he 
was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by 
examining his wives' mouths.
     Bertrand Russell, Impact of Science on Society (1952) ch. 1>

> I also don't think any thinker at his time was
> consciously putting forth the experimental method. Didn't that really
> have to wait until the Late Middle Ages?

That's exactly the point I was making.

> And whilst I don't want to defend Aristotle (or any thinker) too much,
> I'm guessing that were he shown some experiments or observations proving
> his ideas wrong in some of these areas, he probably would've changed his
> mind.

It depends how paradigm-offending/unthinkable the topic was. I have no 
doubt that in 100 years (or 2000 or whatever) routine scientists will 
accept evidence for some psi phenomena, but they sure as hell don't 
today even when it *is* shown to them. "Don't go there, look away, look 
away, some people will shout BULLSHIT and laugh at you and stop you 
getting funding in any other project that interests you."

Damien Broderick