> This question is more difficult than it seems. People often do things
>without themselves really know why they are doing it. For example for
>all the people who are attacking the validity of the senses do they
>really LIVE by that belief?
Is anyone around here attacking the validity of the senses? You might be
jumping to a conclusion that if I attack Objectivism, I attack the use of
the senses.
>When such an individual attempts to cross a
>busy street do they say: Oh I can just ignore that oncoming truck and
>walk right out into the street because I know that my senses are just
>fooling me! , or ,do they instead look both ways, make sure the coast is
>clear and then TRUSTING THIER SENSES walk to the other side of the
>street? I say because they are still alive they are LIVING what I've
>been saying even if the whole time they have been arguing againest it!
Whether as kids we learn by first forming theories and checking them out,
or by making generalizations after seeing examples of things, we have this
model which helps us survive, for the most part. But, as a way of learning
about thngs the scientific method of forming and testing a theory is
superior to the inductive method of jumping to conclusions. When you
advocate the inductive method used in objectivism, you're only justifying
the use of a remnant of our preconscious animal minds which works to keep
species alive but not help us in terms of making scientific progress.
---David R.