Quoting Heather Perella <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: > Platt, > > This is a good example of how there is no Truth > but there is truth. > > SA
SA: Except that every attempt to deny Truth invokes Truth, a paradox discussed many times here. It seems to be logically consistent, Truth must be acknowledged to exist. Platt > Platt: > > Much of the debate on this site is not only about > > how to interpret the > > writings of Mr. Pirsig, but the trustworthiness of > > sources used to support > > a point of view. An example of the problem comes > > from today's NY Times in > > an article about the effect of art instruction on > > learning An excerpt: > > > > "Obama cites sober social-science research on the > > poor city neighborhoods > > he knows best. Studies in Chicago have > > demonstrated, his arts statement > > reads, that test scores improved faster for > > students enrolled in low- > > income schools that link arts across the curriculum > > than scores for > > students in schools lacking such programs. > > > > "Theres just one problem with this ostensibly > > hardheaded defense of arts > > education. The studies invoked as proof that > > involvement in band or dance > > or sculpture spurs higher academic performance > > actually show nothing of > > the sort. To the consternation of arts proponents > > wedded to this way of > > arguing, the instrumental logic has been challenged > > by a team of > > investigators affiliated with Harvards Project > > Zero, an education research > > group with a focus on the arts. An emphasis on the > > arts utility in the > > quest to reach math and reading benchmarks may seem > > politically smart, but > > the science it rests on turns out to be shaky." > > > > > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/magazine/27wwln-lede-t.html?ref=magazine > > > > I guess most of us tend to discount claims made by > > politicians. But, > > "scientific studies" have also been known to be > > suspect. Some of us rely on > > Wikipedia to provide "facts" to support an argument. > > Perhaps more reliable > > than other sources, I've seen criticisms of it, too. > > There's also a human > > tendency to discount a source when it doesn't "fit" > > one's political > > beliefs. > > > > No doubt there's been an "information explosion" > > since the advent of the > > internet. But as we all known, advances in > > technology do not necessarily > > assure better quality. So what to do? > > > > For me, the criteria laid down by Pirsig is the best > > I know of. "The tests > > of truth are logical consistency, agreement with > > experience, and economy of > > explanation." (Lila, 8) The weakness in this is > > "experience," as Pirsig > > acknowledges in SODV: "The reason there is a > > difference between individual > > evaluations of quality is that although Dynamic > > Quality is a constant, > > these static patterns are different for everyone > > because each person has a > > different static pattern of life history. Both the > > Dynamic Quality and the > > static patterns influence his final judgment. That > > is why there is some > > uniformity among individual value judgments but not > > complete uniformity." > > > > So try as we might, there's no escape from our > > biases based on our life > > history. I guess all we can do in ascertaining the > > reliability of sources > > is to try to limit those biases as best we can. > > > > Which ain't easy I admit. > > > > Best, > > Platt > > > > > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > > Archives: > > > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > > > > > > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ > Be a better friend, newshound, and > know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. > http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > ------------------------------------------------- This mail sent through IMP: http://horde.org/imp/ Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
