> >From: zaimoni@ksu.edu
> >Date: Tue, 17 Sep 1996 09:14:17 -0500 (CDT)
>
> > IF random-mutation-based biological evolution is to be mathematically
> >coherent, [as far as I know], one must have either the many-worlds
> >interpretation of quantum mechanics, or a steady-state universe.
>
> I disagree with this premise. Dennett is habitually advising us not to
> confuse a failure of imagination (this is NOT intended to be a personal
> insult, imagination in often limited by availiable information and models)
> with a physical requirement. Theories of this sort are not like
> mathematical equations which lead refutation by contradiction...they're
> kludges, and when they don't fit together we force them.
To the extent they are not refutable by contradiction [from internal or
external data], they are religion/vain philosophy.
I haven't heard of anyone successfully forcing General Relativity and
Quantum mechanics together yet--and they're both [currently] widely
accepted scientific theories whose conclusions apparently conflict in
certain cases.
> The strength of science is that one can accept it's theories piecemeal (I
> think someone makes this point later on).
Agreed.
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/ Kenneth Boyd
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