Keith Nagel wrote: > Walter writes: > >We assume the impartiality of the experts. They don't lie; they're > >scientists! We believe them because theoretically at least we could > >get the same training and come to the same conclusions. That's what > >makes science different from theology. > > We assume the impartiality of the priests. They don't lie; they're > priests! We believe them because theoretically at least we could get > the same religious training and come to the same conclusions. That's > what makes theology different from science.
If I get a Ph.D. in chemistry and a Ph.D. in physics and am asked a question about any scientific subject I don't expect I would feel the need to give two different answers. If I get a D.D. degree in from a Roman Catholic divinity school and also train at an Islamic school and am asked about, say, the true road to salvation, I probably would. And that example is using two religions that to some extent tolerate each other. Ask a Muslim if a Bahai can get into heaven. There is no such conflict in science. > > Walter also writes: > >I do have a little hope for one such demonstration sparked by this > >thread; see the new thread, > >http://www.mail-archive.com/vortex-l%40eskimo.com/msg13665.html and > >particularly Michael Foster's post. > > Perhaps you should read the archives of this list. Better still, try the > experiment yourself, it's trivially easy to do, many of us have done it. > Then you can win the million dollars. Or not. I hope Michael Foster acts. If he doesn't you're certainly free to do so. I'll also put up a broader request for a vortexian (or vortexians) to apply to accept the Challenge using this demonstration. And if Randi disallows the turning of carbon (and/or air) into iron -- implicitly accepting alchemy -- I will make it my goal to ensure that everyone who has internet access knows about it. > > Either way, now that we've turned science over to the priests and the > magicians I don't hold much hope for advance. > > The Amazing K. I don't propose turning science over to magicians, much less priests. Randi has stated repeatedly that he would rely on experts drawn from the American Physical Society. If he attends any demonstration he would likely be in the background. If I were him I'd want to be there too, to see if trickery was being used to win my million bucks. I presume you accept that Randi at least knows something about trickery. Thanks for your input. -Walter
