Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] [RELIGION] creation myths

[Mike Miller <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Fri, 2 Dec 2005, Stephen Montgomery-Smith wrote:

> Mike Miller wrote:
>
> > We read some Popper and Lakatos in grad school.  I've read a few other 
> > things.  It is possible to come up with all sorts of difficult and 
> > elaborate ideas and never really get a final answer.  There are 
> > probably thousands of people publishing all the time on philosophy of 
> > science issues.  What is stopping them from figuring it all out? 
> > Well, I think there is no perfect solution and science is a complicated 
> > process that doesn't work by some perfect rules.  This allows 
> > philosophers to go on and on making money (publishing and not 
> > perishing) forever.
> >
> >     "There is nothing so ridiculous but some philosopher has said it."
> >      --Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 B.C. - 43 B.C.)
>
> I don't believe that philosophers are motivated by making money.

Everyone is, to at least some degree, but I think competition among 
themselves is probably more motivating than the money.  They want to outdo 
one another.


> They genuinely wish to resolve these issues.

You think it is possible to resolve these issues?  The nature of truth? 
We've been at it for more than 2,000 years and I think there has been very 
little progress.


> Some people may feel like you do that there is no point because we will 
> never find the answers, but there are other people like me who just 
> cannot put these questions down.

It's fun, but I don't think much progress is being made in philosophy.


> When I came across the work of Popper my reaction wasn't "why did he 
> waste his time with this kind of stuff" - rather it was "there is really 
> someone else who thinks this is important" - I had been battling with 
> these ideas and thoughts long before.

I'm sure that some of the philosophy of science is worth reading.  I also 
enjoyed reading Popper and Lakatos.  Reading a couple of their papers can 
help a scientist to have a better idea of what he is doing.  But how much 
time should a scientist spend reading philosophy of science instead of 
reading science?  I think there is very little worth reading in 
philosophy.  There must be many thousands of new philosophy papers 
published every year.  I read practically none of them but if someone 
recommended one good one, I might read it, but no one has recommended a 
philosophy paper to me since I was in grad school more than a decade ago.

Mike

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