On 03/28/10 13:52, Darren New wrote:
>>   Maybe you could argue that science makes the *assumption* that
>> measurements
>> correspond to reality, but as long as there's no evidence of the
>> contrary,
>> there's no reason to think otherwise. Someone could argue this *is*
>> faith.
> 
> I think what makes it faith is the behavior in the face of
> contradictions to what one has faith in.
> 
> The behavior when showing a religious person things that tend to
> contradict their faith is generally denial and looking for some way to
> show you've misinterpreted their holy works or some such. The classic
> example is if you show someone where the bible says God is evil, they
> will tell you that you're misinterpreting the bible.
> 
> If you tell a scientist that you have measurements that don't match
> theory, the first assumption is that you measured incorrectly. The
> second assumption is that the theory is wrong. I don't think there's
> ever an assumption that reality is conspiring against you.

	Well sure - but that's because they take it on faith that reality
doesn't conspire against you in that manner (as you pointed out originally).

-- 
Why do toasters always have a setting that burns the toast to a horrible
crisp, which no decent human being would eat?

Post a reply to this message