At 10:57 AM 15/11/00 EST, CJC wrote:
>Phew! Thank Ghu -- I was beginning to think I had subscribed to the wrong
>mailing list :)
It's getting that way, isn't it? The horror, the horror...
>Supernatural interpretations of phenomena are, IMHO, the result of the human
>mind's drive to find patterns in nature (even when they aren't real)
combined
>with ignorance. They tend to fall apart whenever they are looked at with a
>critical eye backed with experimental evidence.
The brain, in Dr Robert Park's phrase (adopted from James Alcock) is a
belief engine. Everyone here should enjoy the analysis in his very fine
recent book VOODOO SCIENCE. Extropes will bridle a tad at his equal dislike
for `those who love technology too much', and I personally find some of his
objections to certain ideas glib and journalistic/coffee-table. But the
book's a fun and informative read, as enjoyable as Richard Dawkins (who
praises it expansively on the cover of the British Oxford University Press
edition).
Damien Broderick
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Mon May 28 2001 - 09:50:21 MDT