From: Mark Steven Heyman (markheyman@infoproconsulting.com)
Date: Sun Apr 10 2005 - 14:08:17 BST
Ian,
All of my thoughts in this thread are directed toward the argument
that started it, which is about whether or not scientific assumptions
are faith-based and, therefore, no different than religious
assumptions. Please try to keep this in mind before hitting me with
your ridiculous, half-baked diatribes.
Furthermore, I find your reference to your level of education a
rather childish appeal to authority. I've rigorously avoided
referring to my own credentials in these discussions for just this
reason, but it would appear that you are about half as well educated
as I. Now, doesn't that sound silly?
If you don't have time to carefully contribute to this discussion, at
least, please, tone down the insults.
Thanks,
Mark Steven Heyman (msh)
-- InfoPro Consulting - The Professional Information Processors Custom Software Solutions for Windows, PDAs, and the Web Since 1983 Web Site: http://www.infoproconsulting.com "The shadows that a swinging lamp will throw, We come from nowhere and to nothing go." On 10 Apr 2005 at 13:49, ian glendinning wrote: Matt, Sam, sam said: If a scientist or engineer 'doesn't really care whether or not their belief is correct' then they don't really care about the outcome. msh replied: No. The outcome is ALL they care about. They wanna land that spacecraft, complete that circuit, build that bridge. What they don't care about is the literal truth of their assumptions. In fact, they care so little about the "truth" of the assumptions that, if the assumptions get in the way of orbiting the satellite, they will DROP the assumptions. This is pragmatism in action. If either of you actually believe either of those statements, then you are sadly misguided by a gross caricature of reality. I am a professional engineer BSc(Eng) MIMechE, WWeldI, for over 30 years, and an MBA qualified experienced manager in industry, and I can assure you few engineers (or scientists, or managers) have such a narrow, blinkered, careless, thoughtless view of the world. You are creating a disagreement where there is none and spreading the false memes in the process. Get real. Give someone other than philosophers credit. At least Sam started with "if" and is therefore not wrong in what he says in that sentence. The "spacecraft landing" is only a "part" of the outcome - go read Pirsig and his motorcycle maintenance analogies to understand good, quality engineering (or good, quality anything). Go read my review of Dawkins and the 10,000 rivets flying in close formation thanks to a plane-load of social anthropologists. Why make such a colourful world so black and white ? Repeat after me "There is no dichotomy". Ian On Apr 10, 2005 10:40 AM, Mark Steven Heyman <markheyman@infoproconsulting.com> wrote: MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org Mail Archives: Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/ Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at: http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html MOQ.ORG - http://www.moq.org Mail Archives: Aug '98 - Oct '02 - http://alt.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/ Nov '02 Onward - http://www.venus.co.uk/hypermail/moq_discuss/summary.html MD Queries - horse@darkstar.uk.net To unsubscribe from moq_discuss follow the instructions at: http://www.moq.org/md/subscribe.html
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