>(3) Is common practice in science. Scientists say that the universe is
>made of 10-Dimensional vibrating superstrings.
Srinivasa Ramanujan claimed it could even be 26 dimensions.
>They can , after meditating
>over the equations for decades, reveal this truth to us. But,
>unfortunately, we the untrained cannot see it. Is it, therefore, bullshit?
>Are you sayng the only real things are those things which any human,
>regardless of education, can perceive. Are electrons real?
Yes, regardless of education the burden of judgement is on us. Good thing
the experts compete in a "scientific free market". If they discover
cold-fusion, others have to confirm it. This is a good test for those who
do not understand those experiments. And there is also technology: will it
be practical -- and capitalism: can we make money using it?
I don't see electromagnetic waves, but I have no doubt they exist and that
they can be controled by humans -- when I turn on a radio. If somebody
tells me that on Level-3 you can communicate telepathically -- I let him
convice me. If he can't deliver I assume it's crap (I still may be wrong).
The judgement is always ours. What a difficult life... That's why it's so
easy to acquire MAIDS.
>I know that isn't what you're arguing, Tad. The question I sincerely wish
>you could answer is how do we exclude sciences--often requiring decades of
>experience and training to understand and often culminating in
>over-mystical theories like quantum mechanics, chaos, and
>superstrings--from "bad" (3)-type chicanery? It seems to me that we rely
>on our institutions to weed out the crap for us. But we recognize that the
>institutions of science and government don't act according to their
>mandate.
True. That's why competition is important. Besides, great theories are
simple. The DNA alphabet is now known to an average high school student and
it used to be a mystery for ages. E=mc^2 is a *very* simple formula. It is
difficult to find it though. I believe relationships between information,
energy and matter will appear to be as simple one day. Stephen Hawking puts
it more poetically when he claims that when we know it, everybody will be
able to understand it and to know God's thoughts. I believe this world
*must* be simple in order to be so wonderful.
How do we tell sciences from (3)-type chicanery ? Good question.
The only tool we have is our mind.
I can see three answers: learning, learning, and learning.
>I think Objectivism, and science, provides a decent counter to authority
>worship. But only if they don't become an authority, right? Otherwise
>aren't they just another expression of MAIDS?
Exactly. It's the "authority worhip" which is the main component of MAIDS.
It's not the same as simply rebelling against authority (as in some
movements). It's the lack of trust in one's own mind. The MAIDS virus
seems to prosper in abandoned minds.
Regards, Tadeusz (Tad) Niwinski from planet TeTa
tad@teta.ai http://www.teta.ai (604) 985-4159