Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!seismo!sundc!pitstop!sun!decwrl!labrea!agate!helios.ee.lbl.gov!nosc!humu!uhccux!lee
From: lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu (Greg Lee)
Newsgroups: comp.ai
Subject: Re: The Ignorant assumption
Message-ID: <2346@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu>
Date: 6 Sep 88 16:51:21 GMT
References: <1369@garth.UUCP>
Organization: University of Hawaii
Lines: 29

From article <1369@garth.UUCP>, by smryan@garth.UUCP (Steven Ryan):
" ...
" Frequent mistake--to do science you have to accept the scientific method on
" faith.

Why do I have to do that?  I don't think anyone has to do that.  It's
just as well people don't have to know that the method will work before
they will use it, since theories and experiments sometimes fail, don't
they?  If you want to treat the failures as discrediting the theories
and experiments always, rather than the scientific method, you are
confusing science and magic  --  when the magic doesn't work, the
magician says: "Well, I didn't do it right this time."

" Essentially science states that the universe is rational and
" objective.

No, it doesn't.  In those instances where theories have worked well,
we can reasonably conclude that in the relevant domains the universe was to
a certain extent lawful.  If you want to take a leap of faith and go beyond
this to adopt science as a religion, of course you may.  You and Mr. Wells.

" Ultimately, any way of viewing the universe is based on assumptions
" taken on faith.

Maybe, but why view the universe?  We need to adopt provisional assumptions
to get on, but there's no need to have faith in them.  That's as
harmful in ordinary life as it is in science.

		Greg, lee@uhccux.uhcc.hawaii.edu