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From: javilk@netcom.com (Javilk)
Subject: Re: Randomness is a human concept (was Re: Time is a human concept)
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Date: Fri, 11 Nov 1994 03:13:24 GMT
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John DeLaughter (jed@nam.earth.nwu.edu) wrote:

: So I would read you statement above as:
: 	"Our only contact with reality comes through our senses, so any
: 	statement about reality is necessarily a statement about our
: 	interactions with reality."
   I think a lot of my contact with reality, my understanding of it, 
comes from playing with things I remember, and seeing how they might fit 
together.  And then, figuring out how to find out if they do.

: description given.  And all we can discover in the realm of science are
: the cogs and gears (and pogo-sticks and hydraulic fluid and..) of reality.
     And put that together in to Much Larger systems.  Then hand it to the
engineers to play with and come up with practical uses for some of the
things. (Though once it's out there, the common folks will probably find
more uses than the engineers.  What's the book title say, "To Engineer is
Human"? 

: >>As an example, "2H2 + O2 -> 2H2O + 241 kJ/mol" means that oxygen and
: >>hydrogen will create water and heat in the absence of other reagents.
: >>This statement correctly describes the reaction, but says nothing about
: >>the truth of the underlying reality - since none is implied.  And this
: >>statement applies for everyone at every time, and has also been shown
: >>to apply when there are no observers.
   Nothing happens without the spark!  It just sits there.

: I agree with your (snipped) statement that we're in basic agreement; if
: we weren't I'm sure the scorched earth policy would already be in effect.
: However, I feel that it is important that people realise that science is
: NOT a religion, it is NOT a revelation obaout reality and it WON'T send
: you to heaven.  All it will do is give you a chance at a longer, happier,
: healthier life so that you have more chances to make it to heaven on
: your own.
   I think, a large part of the function of religion has been to explain 
what happens around us.  For that, we now have science, and to ward off 
the undesirable things we use to attribute to religious "will", we have 
engineering, medicine, and economics.  (To mention a few.)
   Economics may not send you to heaven, but it will certainly encourage 
you to help the rest of the society, and hence may HELP you realize A FEW 
of the things which can help you get to whatever the better places are 
after this round in the game of life.
   the real balance of "stuff" still lies with the antics of the unwashed 
masses, bent upon solving their day to day problems with whatever is handy. 
And that, to both religionists and engineers, often looks pretty random!

  With luck, someone stumbles upon something new, and eventualy some
scientific sorts come up with a theory that the engineers can use.  Maybe. 
Later on we may find that the fudge factors are the variables, and the
rest of the formula and theory actualy described something else, but it 
is a start.

-J- javilk@netcom.com ------------------------------------------
Laugh at yourself, The Goddess loves company -- and You! -------
After all, we wouldn't want her to cancel the show, would we? --
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A Pagan Scientist -- I am trying to find out HOW She did it!


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