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From: sasghm@theseus.unx.sas.com (Gary Merrill)
Subject: Re: Why scientists popularize premature speculations?
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Date: Fri, 2 Dec 1994 14:15:17 GMT
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In article <3bn6k7$7u7@pobox.csc.fi>, grohn@finsun.csc.fi (Lauri Gr|hn) writes:
|> In <3bmlc9$pr7@agate.berkeley.edu> jerrybro@uclink2.berkeley.edu (Gerardo Browne) writes:
|> 
|> >Utlimately, historically speaking, the truth will sort itself out.
|> 
|>         Are you sure that the truth will sort itselft out?
|> Millions of people still believe in "the left/right-siders brain theory"
|> and many believe that Sperry proved it. And I learned at school that 
|> when flat-worms eat others which have learned to move in a maze
|>  they learn quicker. Just by accident I learned a few years ago that 
|> the experiment has no repetitions. Why to cheat the great public?

   You cannot prevent people from holding silly beliefs.  You
cannot prevent people from holding stupid beliefs.  You certainly
cannot prevent people from holding *false* beliefs.  The way to
minimize the set of false beliefs held by people is *not* to
inhibit the exchange or transmission of information or speculation,
but rather to maximize the amount of information and speculation
available to people and to educate people in the methodology of
choosing among theories and speculations.  The "great public" is
"cheated" only by having its access or rights to information
and speculation denied.

-- 
Gary H. Merrill  [Principal Systems Developer, Compiler and Tools Division]
SAS Institute Inc. / SAS Campus Dr. / Cary, NC  27513 / (919) 677-8000
sasghm@theseus.unx.sas.com ... !mcnc!sas!sasghm
