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From: minsky@media.mit.edu (Marvin Minsky)
Subject: Was: The end of god.  Now is: god's back again.
Message-ID: <1994Oct28.054533.20738@news.media.mit.edu>
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Cc: minsky
Organization: MIT Media Laboratory
References: <383kau$5q2@scapa.cs.ualberta.ca> <Cxzo7E.91v@gpu.utcc.utoronto.ca> <Harmon.776.000A2404@psyvax.psy.utexas.edu>
Date: Fri, 28 Oct 1994 05:45:33 GMT
Lines: 35

In article <Harmon.776.000A2404@psyvax.psy.utexas.edu> Harmon@psyvax.psy.utexas.edu (Michael G. Harmon) writes:
>
>It may be that Penrose is saying there are some truths that are not 
>scientific in nature that will subsequently remain unprovable by scientific 
>method.  It might be that such phenomenon that would be agreed upon as valid 
>solely by the concurrance of a sufficient number of credentialed members of 
>the scientific community who either try the idea out in their own minds and 
>admit a certain reasonance with respect to the rest of what they know or 
>perhaps be able to gain a statisical basis by experimenting with the 
>subjective perceptions of a group of subjects who claim to [...] directly 
>percieve aspects of the 'truth' in question.  


You mean, like when almost everyone agrees that that thunder noise is
when the rain god is angry, or that living things are animated by a
vital force, and so forth?  And then burn the witches and wizards who
don't join into that resonance.

Did you really say "credentialed"?  Just like those "certified
authentic professional psychics on TV?.  And for only $3.99 per
minute?

I'll grant that anyone who posts to all of "comp.ai.philosophy,
talk.philosophy.misc, talk.religion.newage, alt.atheism,
alt.pagan,alt.consciousness, alt.paranormal.channeling, and
alt.consciousness.mysticism" is probably certifiable.  Anyway, much as
I disagree with Penrose, I don't think that this is "what Penrose is
saying". But then I'm not completely unsure either, however, that your second
sentence is not entirely unmeaningless. My parser came unstacked
around where you said 'they know or perhaps be able to gain'.

Nice meter, though.

    ___________________________________________
  "Don't pay any attention to the critics. Don't even ignore them."
