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September 29, 2011

"An argumentum ad populum without any people."

The materialist will say that science (or, rather SCIENCE!) has proven that non-physical things do not exist,
or, if they exist, they can be reduced to physical things. When asked for the name and date of the peer reviewed experiment or observation that affirms this theory, the materialist blinks in astonishment, or details on how to perform the experiment or observation for oneself which affirms the theory, the materials becomes surprised and belligerent (well, more belligerent) and tells you that the scientific method does not rest on repeatable experiment or observation, but instead rest on the firm foundation of some opinions he picked up in casual conversation and/or woolgathering somewhere he cannot quite recall, but perhaps it involved reading a book, or the first part of it anyway, by Isaac Asimov or Carl Sagan or perhaps an article on Wikipedia. -- The Promissary Note of Physics | John C. Wright's Journal

Posted by Vanderleun at September 29, 2011 5:04 PM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.

Your Say

Yes, I've read a bunch of Asimov and Sagan, tho never again. I began to wonder how they could know so much about what they said they didn't know. Epistimical limits and all that. I once made a comment on a different blog, whose author was gushing about Sagan, to the effect of 'his science is best where the answer can't be checked' or some such. I mean, let's say, the Drake equation. Half a dozen variables strung together, you can't quantify any of them, and you can't check the answer. Is this supposed to mean something?. It was like farting in church. You could feel the coolness come right back through my computer.

Posted by: ed in texas at September 30, 2011 9:31 AM

Thanks for pointing me to John C Wright's blog. I've been reading his Golden Age series. Very much about struggle between freedom and totalitarianism.

Posted by: stephen b at September 30, 2011 2:47 PM

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