DMB,

> Apparently, David has the idea that intellectual means "smart" and social
> means "dumb".

Not at all. What I have been trying to tease out, primarily with Bo, is
that:
 
1. The intellect (the power and capacity for knowledge and reasoning) is a
property of the human brain that emerged deep in the social level. Much like
individual social behaviors in animals emerged deep in the biological level.
Intellect did not just show up at the emergence of the intellectual level in
Greece as Bo claims.

2. Intellect does not operate solely by subject and object reasoning.

3. Intellectual level did not emerge solely in Greece. Though I do
acknowledge that alphabetic written languages, particularly Greek, were a
huge boon to its growth.

4. The sole contents of the intellectual level is not  science and science
is not solely accomplished through subject and object reasoning.

5. There has been a tendency in science, particularly philosophies of
science, to privileged the knowledge of theory over practice or experiment.
Recent history of science explorations have shown this is not only misguided
in many cases its just plain wrong. Experimental knowledge precedes theory
just as often as the reverse. The existence, some of the properties, and
some uses of photons occurred over 80 year before Einstein's theory about
them. To suggest that this information is not knowledge, or intellectual,
until there is an abstract theory describing it is wrong.

Based on the above and particularly 5 I am thinking it is wrong to discount
the huge number of practical, useful, experiments that have occurred though
out the thousand of years the social level evolved and say that they are in
no way an "intellectual" activity.

So, I'm saying the reverse of your take Dave. That really people at the
social level were and are a whole lot more "intellectual" than give credit
for and we would be well advised not the discard that knowledge overnight in
favor of a half baked theory of quality. Particularly Bo's SOL variety.

Socially Yours

Dave 




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