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Re: Culture of Science?
Arthur T. Murray (ba672@lafn.org)
Thu, 15 Aug 1996 14:39:48 GMT
In a previous article, gazissax@best.com (Joel and Lynn Gazis-Sax) says:
>
>Nice observation, Bill. I think a study of the Culture of Science could
>be very interesting and lead us to some new understandings of what it
>means to be human. Perhaps one reason why scientists find the so-called
>"Territorial Imperative" so compelling is that it resembles their
>culture very closely. Observe how I got flamed by the Wonder from Washington
>well beyond what I had actually said. Her attacks, by her own admission,
>were certainly not /rationally/ motivated. And yet they bear a peculiar
>similarity to remarks I have seen made time and time again when a member
>of the Scientific Establishment, particularly in that they both claim to
>be "neutral" (or as Angeline put it, "not personal") and yet their utterances
>are full of venom!
>
>From where did this culture spring? Here are a few of my hypotheses:
>
>
>* Class. Do Scientists come overwhelming from the Upper Middle and Upper
>Classes? Again, this could explain many of the mythological baggage which
>many scientists bear about the natures of their own intellects. Rather than
>considering the superior value of the education and family upbringing they
>had, they look hopefully to their own genes.
>* Protestantism. (Yep, I'll blame this bugaboo just for the sake of
>theoretical completeness!) I don't give Protestantism the credit for
>the Scientific Method, only for the the emotional baggage and superiority
>complex that afflicts a fair number of scientists, at least the vocal
>ones. Genetic explanations of intelligence sound a lot like good
>old Calvinist predestination if you think about it.
>
>Perhaps you all have others. The point I would make about these things
>is that they /are not/ Scientific Method. But they sure as hell sneak
>in and wreak their havoc often enough for us to be aware of them.
>
>Regards,
>
>
>Joel
>
>
>
>--
> ___ ___
> /\ _|_ /\ Joel and Lynn GAzis-SAx
> / /\_|_/\ \ gazissax@best.com
> / / /\|/\ \ \ http://www.best.com/~gazissax/
> ----------o----------------------------------------------------------
> \ \ \/|\/ / / "If we try to flee from our human condition into
> \ \/_|_\/ / the computer, we only meet ourselves there."
> \/__|__\/ William Barrett
>
Economic history is about to change because the world is moving
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Humans will do humane work and drudgery will be done by machines.
First, a dangerous interim of class warfare and social disruption
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Anyone may join or follow a public domain effort to create the
cybernetic economy by first submitting the query "Mentifex" to
http://www.altavista.digital.com AltaVista 64-bit Alpha-based, or
http://www.hotbot.com HotBot search engine also known as Inktomi.
/^^^^^^^^^^^\ Theoretical Neurobiology of Mind /^^^^^^^^^^^\
/visual memory\ ________ / auditory \
| /--------|-------\ / syntax \ | memory |
| | recog-|nition | \________/<-----------|------------\ |
| ___|___ | | |flush-vector | ______ | |
| /image \ | ___V____V__ word-fetch | / \ | |
| / percept \<--|-->/ array of \---------------|->/ stored \| |
| \ engrams / | \ concepts / for thinking | \ words / |
| \_______/ | \_________/ in language | \______/ |
|