Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!mcsun!unido!tub!tubopal!seim
From: seim@tubopal.UUCP (Kai Seim)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: Doug Lenat's "cyc" project
Message-ID: <1712@drjur.tubopal.UUCP>
Date: 17 Aug 90 11:02:42 GMT
References: <53965@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Reply-To: seim@tubopal.UUCP (Kai Seim)
Organization: Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Lines: 40

in article Re: Doug Lenat's "cyc" project raja@copper.ucs.indiana.edu 
(Raja Sooriamurthi) writes:

>Yes, the alchemists did fail in their  prime goal of discovering a
>'load-stone' to turn base metals to gold. But in the process of their
>search they did find a number of useful alloys and advanced medieval
>chemistry to a large extent.
>
>Agreed their prime objective wasn't fruitful but the side-effects were
>significant. While I don't want to say that project cycs prime mission
>isn't going to succeed I've no doubt that it has been (will be)
>successful in other ways.
>
>- Raja

i ever thougt, that science works in an other way to find new knowledge
about (interesting:-) facts. Perhaps you should go back to (prison and don't
get 2000 $:-)!!

The problem is, that science should have a hypothesis, proof it, and if it's
right, you won new knowledge, if it isn't, you to find a new hypothesis and
try again (that's very short for beginners-:)

I really don't think, that you can argue with side-effects of stupid projects.
It has nothing to do with science, but very much with alchemistry, as Joseph
G. Davis wrote. 

Greetings

Kai Seim


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Kai Seim				Department of Computer Science
TU Berlin				of the University of Technology
Fachbereich Informatik			Berlin
Franklinstr. 28/29
D 1000 Berlin 10			e-mail: seim@opal.cs.tu-berlin.de
phone:	+49 30 314-73285		fax:  +49 30 314-24891
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