On 12/27/2015 5:49 PM, Pierz wrote:
The argument that the telescope should be built (or not) can only be founded on values, not facts. Like JC, I value the progress of scientific knowledge highly, and I've never been to Mauna Kea, so I'm naturally in favour of building it. But pointing to the factual incorrectness of cultural stories surrounding the mountain is irrelevant, and reducing the reverence of the native Hawaiians to "idiocy" is a typical piece of cultural imperialism.
That's true that decisions must be based on values as well as facts. And we have laws and courts codifying our values and democracy to make the laws. If the Hawiians simply said, "We've heard stories about this mountain since we were children and we like to think of it as a special place (even though we've never been there) so you can't put a telescope on it." they'd be laughed out of court. Why? Because then it would be patently obvious that just anybody could make up stories to block any use of any particular piece of land. So they rest their values on the existence of supernatual beings. They try to support their nostalgic feelings by facts; except their facts are false.
I don't think they are imbeciles. I think they are cunning ignoramuses who have figured out how to game the legal system to maintain their position of specialness and spiritual superiority.
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