[extropy-chat] A few points of interest for future historians

[The Avantguardian]

--- Marc Geddes <m_j_geddes at yahoo.com.au> wrote:

> >...From now on I'm determined to 'do an Eli' and
> only ever open my mouth
> >when I'm absolutely certain of something and can
> back it up...

Don't be so hard on yourself and don't take all the
verbal venom to heart, Marc. Your ideas are
interesting, they are just not "scientific".
Metaphysics is just not science no matter how you
slice it. Rather than scrap your thoughts entirely, I
would spin them not as theories but as a philosophy of
mind. They cannot be proven or disproven, but they can
be contemplated. I don't find your ideas any more
objectionable than I do Buddhism or Des Carte's ideas,
they are just not amenable to measurement. Even real
quantitaive scientific theories get beaten up all the
time, science is very adversarial in that regard. That
is what peer review is all about, and trust me peer
review is not about congratulatory back slapping, its
more about let me take this microscope and tweezers
and try to find the tiniest flaw that will allow me to
unravel your life's work. Most such theories even if
they are essentially correct, aren't vindicated until
well after a scientist's death. Suck it up trooper and
make the best of what you got! Don't worry about
"pulling an Eli", instead try to make "pulling a Marc"
mean something positive.


The Avantguardian 
is 
Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"The surest sign of intelligent life in the universe is that they haven't attempted to contact us." 
-Bill Watterson


	
		
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