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Originally Posted by David Obviously there is some truth in what you say, but I think science has a lot of 'street cred' and people extract ideas from it in a strange sort of way. Describing what goes on in banks as mathematical analysis sounds so much better than calling it gambling. I have heard people claim that homophobia is based on science because science has shown that only heterosexual sex is normal (don't try to unpick the logic in that!) The point is that because science does not relate to values at all, people add their own! |
I agree that many people have hopelessly distorted views of science, math, logic, probability, and so on. But what does that have to do with the "evils of physicalism" that you talked about in post #5? If anything, it sounds like a little more scientific knowledge is in order.
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I have seen it suggested that scientists should have to take an equivalent of the Hippocratic oath somewhere in their training. After all, it seems to successfully deter US doctors from helping in the execution chamber, so it might help deter scientists and engineers working on weapons systems.
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That would be nice until some maniac attacked us and we wanted weapons systems.
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The complete lack of a value-system in science - as illustrated by our discussions about whether a computer could feel pain - seems to contribute to the problem.
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What?!? What does a value system in science have to do with whether a computer can feel pain? Do you think a computer's feeling pain is a question of ethics?
You know, sometimes you say things and I realize I simply have no idea whatsoever how you view the world.
~~ Paul