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From: csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe)
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Re: Making the model fit the data?
Message-ID: <770@mit-vax.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 5-Sep-85 20:05:09 EDT
Article-I.D.: mit-vax.770
Posted: Thu Sep  5 20:05:09 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 10-Sep-85 08:28:56 EDT
References: <717@mit-vax.UUCP> <1088@sphinx.UChicago.UUCP>
Reply-To: csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe)
Organization: MIT, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 43

Beth Christy writes:
>From: csdf@mit-vax.UUCP (Charles Forsythe), Message-ID: <717@mit-vax.UUCP>:
>>It's
>>funny, when a model doesn't work, science tends to look at the model and
>>fix it. That way, accurate models are maintained.
>
>I don't know how religiously (:-) you believe this statement, but I sort
>of feel called to point out that science, like religion, is carried on by
>people, and people aren't always that willing to toss out their beliefs
>(and especially not their preconceptions) just because they don't match
>the available data.

I'm not going to disagree with that, but there are some distinctions to
be made. I will, once again, bring up the "ether" theory.

It physicists didn't abandon that because of stubborness, they would
have to come with some way of explaining contradictory data coming from
special relativity. It was too much trouble, so they accepted the
wave-particle theory and it's worked REALLY WELL for a long time.

Meanwhile, theoretical physics can be a bit hairy, because some things,
such as black holes, are difficult to study.

The theory of creation from big-bang through evolution has worked very
well, but is fuzzy enough to come under scrutiny from certain
intellectuals such as Ted Holden.

It seems to me though, that if the theory of evolution et al were really
that big a failure such creationism would do ANY good to adopt (ie
explain anything new) it would be more widespread. 

A creationist lost a lecture at MIT two years ago. The creationist
said,"I am only going to argue from science!" so the evolutionist
said,"I am only going to argue from religion!" and he won. No
creationist could ever win tenure at MIT. Ha.
-- 
Charles Forsythe
CSDF@MIT-VAX
"We pray to Fred for the Hopelessly Normal
	Have they not suffered enough?"

from _The_Nth_Psalm_ in _The_Book_of_Fred_