I'm not really sure what the point of your post is. Are you trying to say that deductions from science are simply conjecture? Are you trying to relate that there can always be an exception? Are you trying to say its all trite?
I looked up the book on Amazon, and I found a much more interesting quote: -You can know the name of that bird in all the languages of the world, ....., you'll know absolutely nothing whatever about the bird. You'll only know about humans in different places, and what they call the bird. On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 1:11 AM, Wayne Tyson<[email protected]> wrote: > Honorable Forum: > > If students learn nothing else, skepticism, especially about themselves and > authority, is a pretty good start. > > > From: What Do You Care What Other People Think? (concluding essay, "The Value > of Science") by Richard Feynman, p. 245 > > > > "The scientist has a lot of experience with ignorance and doubt and > uncertainty, and this experience is of very great importance, I think. When a > scientist doesn't know the answer to a problem, he is ignorant. When he has a > hunch as to what the result is, he is uncertain. And when he is pretty darn > sure what the result is going to be, he is still in some doubt. We have found > it of paramount importance that in order to progress we must recognize our > ignorance and leave room for doubt. Scientific knowledge is a body of > statements of varying degrees of certainty-some most unsure, some nearly > sure, but none absolutely certain." > > > > I think this book, especially from around page 212, is a particularly useful > bit of thinking by a great mind wrought from an ordinary human who took some > extraordinary leaps. The entire book is well worth reading, but this essay > (p. 240-248) in particular should be required reading for every student of > science--and for that matter, everybody. > > > > It's not that genius is rare, it is that it is abused. Don't let this happen. > > > > WT > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Associate Professor of Biology Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology Texas A&M University-Texarkana Fall Teaching Schedule: Vertebrate Biology - TR 10-11:40; General Ecology - MW 1-2:40pm; Forensic Science - W 6-9:40pm Office Hourse- TBA 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
