Releasers - Anne Kilmer couldn't possibly be more wrong!

Xi Wang xiwang at sprint.ca
Sun May 18 18:01:38 EDT 2003


Hi Anne,

Well, I concur with what you have said, which is that a test result depends in
part on whom is conducting said test.  But I think that the way science is tested
is a bit more rigorous than what you were implying with the elephant and blind men
analogy.  In that case, each man has an incomplete view of the world (which is not
to say that our view of the world is complete), and cannot assess whether his
results are consistent with those obtained by the other 8 individuals.  However,
in science, all fields are to some degree interconnected, and for an idea to be
accepted as valid, it must be consistent with all else we know (ideally).  For
example, the laws of thermodynamics in physical chemistry would not be valid if it
did not make logical sense and was explicable at a quantum level.  The very power
of science and mathematics is self consistency, only then can we be confident that
what we know can be taken as a valid, and good approximation of what we believe to
be the truth and objective existence.

Cheers,
Xi Wang

Anne Kilmer wrote:

> Xi Wang wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > Well, on the whole physical science snobbery issue, I don't think it's
> > snobbery because they basically are right, in that they do have a much
> > better grasp of the nature of the universe.  Biology deals with a small part
> > of science as a whole, because the stuff we know only applies to the earth
> > and only as long as life exists here.  But if one says electron distribution
> > is described by the Schroedinger wave function, this statement applies to
> > the universe in general and I think this type of fundamental understanding
> > is far more satisfying.  You say that physical scientists dislike
> > uncertainty and want everything in the form of an equation.  So, what's
> > wrong with that?  Would anyone complain if we could quantify biology with
> > the same accuracy and precision?
> >
> > P.S.  In case you're suspecting that I'm in the pure sciences, I am actually
> > in medicine, a "science" that is far from precise and accurate.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Xi Wang
> >
>
> But you are also a poet. As one can see from your prose, you have a fine
> idea of how the planet works, and how we work together.
> Consider the fine tale of the nine blind men and the elephant ... each
> with a notion of the whole based on knowledge of one of its parts.
>
> Medicine, as you suggest, is an art which is supported by science.
> Tests, as I suggested earlier, depend on the tester for their validity.
> Hoohah.
>
> Ah well, we're just enjoying the circus until the next ice age, anyway.
> Cheers
> Anne Kilmer
> Ireland
>
>
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