> -----Original Message----- > From: Dinner [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Thursday, September 06, 2007 12:17 PM > To: CF-Community > Subject: Re: Ben Stein's "Expelled" > > Here's my stock experience that gets at the heart of what Micheal is > getting > at, I believe: In high-school, I was in a "special" program, and we > had > some > high-faluting scientist come give us a speech one time- Anyways, they > open > it up for questions at the end, and a fellow student asks: "Is faster > than > light > travel possible?"- to which the Scientist says "No- this isn't star- > trek"!!
It's a common misconception but science has no responsibility to be "open minded". Science follows the evidence. Right now there is no evidence - not the tiniest, smallest thread - that faster than light travel is possible. A better answer would have been "No, there's no evidence" but "No" works as well. There are possibilities - far-out, imaginative, off-the-wall inventive possibilities that DO have some evidence. Wormholes, n-dimensional travel, string folding, etc - all theoretical, all being studied. But as far as a high school class is concerned faster than light travel is impossible (again "impossible with our current level of understanding"). It's a sad misconception that science should be inclusive and accepting and all of that. Well, it shouldn't be: science follows the evidence. Of course there's another option: maybe the guy that spoke to your class was an asshole. Science is made up of people: some of which are ignorant, stupid, racist, stubborn or whatever. Science, as a field of endeavor, is designed to minimize the impact of those people. Peer review, the scientific method, free information exchange: all of that designed to allow the evidence (more specifically good evidence) to eventually rise to the top. Jim Davis ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| ColdFusion is delivering applications solutions at at top companies around the world in government. Find out how and where now http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/showcase/index.cfm?event=finder&productID=1522&loc=en_us Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:242013 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
