Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site ucbvax.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ucbvax!usenet From: usenet@ucbvax.ARPA (USENET News Administration) Newsgroups: net.med Subject: Re: Purging Stoll and his kind Message-ID: <10478@ucbvax.ARPA> Date: Fri, 27-Sep-85 03:14:08 EDT Article-I.D.: ucbvax.10478 Posted: Fri Sep 27 03:14:08 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 28-Sep-85 07:35:54 EDT References: <2172@ukma.UUCP> <813@mcnc.mcnc.UUCP> <272@bbncc5.UUCP> <10437@ucbvax.ARPA> <239@graffiti.UUCP> Reply-To: tedrick@ucbernie.UUCP (Tom Tedrick) Distribution: na Organization: University of California, Berkeley Lines: 39 In article <239@graffiti.UUCP> peter@graffiti.UUCP (Peter da Silva) writes: >> I thought that Godel's incompleteness theorems, Quantum >> physics and such had blown scientific materialism out of >> the water, at least as far as being a "true" description >> of the world. > >Unfortunately no-one never claimed that it's the "true" description of >the world. All we can say is that so far it works, unlike any other >model of the world that I've ever heard of. Of course choosing a model >based on "what works" is part of SM in the first place, but what better >criteria fo you have? I'm not so sure that noone ever claimed scientific materialism is a true description of the world. (Isn't something along those lines part of Marxist doctrine?) But anyway basically what I was trying to say is that it is a good model (actually quite an amazingly good model), but that it should be understood as being a model rather than truth. As you say, choosing a model based on what works is part of what SM is all about, as I understand it. My particular pet theory which I've been trying to integrate with existing models is rather controversial and has to do with adding as an axiom the existence of a soul, without saying anything about God, religion etc. Since this is somewhere out in left-field as far as most people are concerned I won't burden you with the details ... (this view is heretical both to religious and materialistic types ...) What I like about Godel's theorems, Quantum physics, etc., is that they seem to suggest something mysterious is going on that isn't readily explainable. I like mysteries ... Apologies to the readers for burdening them with my personal opinions ... I won't put any more of this in the net. -Tom tedrick@berkeley (Organization: The UnPowerful Elite) Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com