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From: rlr@pyuxn.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy,net.sci,net.misc
Subject: Re: Mind and Brain
Message-ID: <927@pyuxn.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Jul-84 14:18:05 EDT
Article-I.D.: pyuxn.927
Posted: Fri Jul 27 14:18:05 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Jul-84 10:42:49 EDT
References: brl-vgr.507 <569@ihuxj.UUCP>, <93@mouton.UUCP>, <1135@rti-sel.UUCP>, <3328@brl-tgr.ARPA> <4118@utzoo.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
Lines: 29

> Clearly, the physicists need a word to use when they want to
> describe ``energy'' (what physicists mean by energy). However,
> the philosophers and the mystics have a need for a word as well.
> If the physicists preempt the word that has been around for a long time
> and hasn't been used only to describe what the physicists mean then they
> create several problems for themselves and for other people.

The problem is that physicists (and scientists in general) try to find
specific accurate terms to describe a phenomenon/event/etc.  Other more
generic definitions of terms like power, energy, etc. still exist.

But some speculators (those who believe in things based solely on speculation
according to the way would like the world to be) take a term and are sure to
use it in as loose a sense as possible ("There's an energy associated with
this...")  This usurping of a scientific term while using a more general
(hazier) definition manifests itself in what gets called "Mellowspeak" or
"Californiese".  ("Like, I can feel this, like, energy, surrounding my, like,
essence, man, totally reflective...")  [NO SLUR MEANT ON CALIFORNIANS IN
GENERAL, JUST THE ONES WHO TALK AND THINK LIKE THAT :-]

> The other effect is perhaps worse. Some fraud gets up and talks about
> ``the mysterious energy whatzit'' and lo and behold people assume that
> because he is using the wonderful scientific term ``energy'' he must
> be 100% genuine and thoroughly scientific.

My point exactly.
-- 
It doesn't matter what you wear, just as long as you are there.
						Rich Rosen    pyuxn!rlr