Hi Scott, Andre, Jonathan, All:
> No suggestions of my own, but if you haven't run across it already,
> Rupert Sheldrake wrote a book describing some experiments to test his
> hypothesis (as given in his earlier books" "A New Science of Life" and "The
> Presence of the Past"). I haven't read his experiment book (and can't
> remember its name), but I would suspect they would do pretty well as MOQ
> experiments, since Sheldrake's hypothesis is -- in translation -- that once
> a static pattern of value occurs, it is likely to show up more
> than chance would imply, precisely because it has value.
The book is "Seven Experiments That Could Change the World--A Do-It-
Yourself Guide to Revolutionary Science." The questions Sheldrake's
experiments address are:
How do pets know when their owners are returning?
How do pigeons home?
How do insects organize colonies?
How do people know they're being stared at?
Why do amputees feel phantom limbs?
Why do fundamental constants like gravity vary?
Why do expectations influence what happens?
The last question is probably more relevant to the MOQ than the others,
but who knows? Any one of the questions if scientifically approached
might reveal heretofore unknown powers related to Quality.
As an example, here's Sheldrake's suggestion for an experiment to test
possible paranormal effects of the experimenter: "Students in a
biochemistry practical class are given two samples of a particular
enzyme. One is described as having been treated with an inhibitor
which partially blocks its activity; the other is described as the
untreated control. In fact both samples are identical. They measure the
enzyme activity, using standard biochemical techniques. Does the
'inhibited' enzyme tend to show lower activity than the 'control'?" (Maybe
Jonathan could try this.)
Sheldrake like Jahn and other renegade scientists are willing to
challenge the establishment, just as Pirsig sticks it to what's left of
what might be called philosophy in academe. (Rorty and his fellow
postmodernists are not philosophers but linguistic analysts with a
political agenda.)
I dare say most MOQites are also renegades, willing to challenge the
establishment. Unlike the hippies who didn't have a clue as to why their
moral movement ended up in the pits, we know the way up. (-:
Platt
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