On Fri, 29 Nov 1996 Michael Lorrey <retroman@tpk.net> Wrote:
>John Clark would say that to a scientist, if it can't be
>proven NOW then it doesn't exist, which is wrong.
I have it on pretty good authority that John Clark would not say that,
he would say there are some things we can not prove or disprove now,
and perhaps never can. Thanks to the work of Godel and Turing we know that
there are some true things we can never prove. However I have a hunch that
John Clark would also say that if an idea can not help us understand how the
universe works, regardless of its truth or falsehood, then we can certainly
find a better use to put our valuable brain cells to than meditating on it.
Somebody once told me that "Genius" is the ability to know when your mind is
caught in an infinite loop, I'm not sure if that's true or not, but I am sure
Clark doesn't claim he can prove that theists are wrong, only that they're
silly.
>The requirement to have "faith" is IMHO anathema to anyone
>who considers themselves to have a scientific mind
I agree with that. For example, if I were to make an extraordinary claim and
say that I had irrefutable evidence to back it up, but for reasons of my own
am unwilling to show you the tiniest particle of it, then there would be
absolutely no Scientific reason for you to take me at all seriously, doing so
would be entirely a mater of faith.
John K Clark johnkc@well.com
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