Hi Arlo, Thank you for the post, abbreviated below for discussion: [Arlo]
The author of this webpage [Science-Delusions...]writes, "We are all at the mercy of the Fates." Are we? Is medical research then a flawed and wasted endeavor? Would we all be better served by adopting the "Gottes Wille" doctrine of the Amish? Is sciences tinkering with "medicines" and "surgeries" and the like an afront to the more appropriate voodoo witchdoctors and faith-healers? Nay, this is simply another droll apologist essay for submitting to to the will of god, and since we as mortals can never understand that, like Job we must just choose to suffer and know that our suffering is "part of the plan". [Mark] I appears to me that such an interpretation is a bit extreme and perhaps reactionary. Certainly there is a place for humility as well as arrogance in Quality. While reactionary criticism does have some attributes (and I know, guilty) it is somewhat misleading of the overall message. I do not subscribe to extreme devotion to either a doctrinal religion, or a doctrinal science. For me, both have their purposes. No doubt Quality subscribes to direction. The question is what direction is betterness? It is quite possible to conceive of a direction towards the norm, away from the extremes, as better. This would be towards a direction of balance. I would see this as a balance between the subjective and the objective. I am speaking of the true subjective, not the objective subjective as is dealt with in Western philosophy. The paradigm of genetics and evolution provides an analogy. In any population of species there is strong pressure towards the norm, as described by the abstract concept of statistics. Outliers are not tolerated. As such, most genetic mutations are either benign or malignant. The benign mutations survive the culling process. If there are enough benign mutations of the right kind present in a species, a single new mutation can create a big jump in species by combining all the benign mutations together synergistically. It is these jumps that we see, not a gradual improvement of species which provides dramatic differentiation. In the same way, philosophies can undergo similar jumps through the appropriate combination of "mutations". A similar analogy can be applied to the jumps in levels of Quality. The point is to not look to extend an existing philosophy, as is, towards betterment, but to allow drift and incorporation to allow the leap. Science is certainly stuck, as are many established religions. There will always be the outliers of each that draw attention, at the expense of those who are more conciliatory. Drawing people onto sides does nothing more than strengthen the sides themselves. In this way, questioning science as it is taught to us in school, as the purveyor of truth, is indeed healthy and should be encouraged. But should not, as you rightly say, be towards a mindless religion where no questioning is allowed, only subservience. Balance is key. Assimilation is at the heart of the internet, such assimilation, as opposed to fragmentation or protectionism, is a key for this age. In my humble opinion. Cheers, Mark 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/md/archives.html
