kuresu:
wait . . .so the purpose of science . . .is to . . .put down . . .the proud?
wierd. maybe that's why they hated the idea of heliocentric solar system and now hate old earth and evolution. they were wrong on all accounts, and science is telling them that they are. and they don't like it one bit. wierd.
somehow, I never pictured science as a summon that launched tidal waves at its enemies.
Rob admits that his 'truth' feels flimsy and useless to him right now. No doubt the feeling is accurate.
I hope he takes the advice given in Job: remember the encounter. It would be stupid to keep repeating it.
But you make an excellent point. Science is hardly a monster just because some people feel scorched.
Phat shared an interesting experience with Rob on another thread. He said he learned that science shows him windmills where he had been taught to see dragons.
Science is a practical thing. It only looks like a dragon if you try to wage war on it with a javelin made of toothpick and a shield made of tissue paper. It's wildly unrealistic to think you're going to march into a forest with three quotes from the likes of Dembski and, armed only with that, beat up all the natural sciences. The mission is suicide. All the bravado in the world can't cover this.
It's never a pleasant experience to learn one has been sold a bill of goods. Yet this discussion makes it obvious to me that those ID statements were never even
meant to pass muster with scientists. They were intended for the ears of lay persons--people with prefab ideas who just want reassurance in a plausibly scientific-looking package.
There's a reason why these same ID people did a disappearing act last year when summoned to court to show their math. It's the same reason Rob now considers doing a disappearing act here.
Rob, as usual, takes the unpleasantness of his learning experience personally. He views it as persecution. Things won't improve until he stops equating any poorly understood argument or flimsy idea with a silver bullet called 'absolute truth.' Clarity starts with owning one's own ideas. Reality never has an obligation to cooperate.
Will we ever see this kind of clarity from Rob? I rather doubt it. But time will tell.
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Edited by Archer Opterix, : tinkering.
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Archer
All species are transitional.