Hi Dr. Dick:
That title is a cliche' I was provided in my youth. Ha ha ha. Happy holiday, safe season and all that by the way to you and everyone here.
at http://www.astronomy.net/forums/general/messages/4610.shtml, Dr. D. wrote:
Your World View Is In Your Head!
That is, you have your personal understanding of the universe (which you presume is correct).
Permit a humorous deflection of that bold assertion:
"You" presume? "You" presume? So....you admit it!
"But seriously folks," Do scientists generally presume their personal understanding of the universe is "correct," or am I an exception?
While Y has denied I am a scientist, by another good definition, a curious ten-year-old is a scientist so I can be too. The cautious tone of science seems "correct" in most applications.
The bold assertion of spiritual dignity is not
scientific truth but preference in a theater whose rules are a mix of science and fiction.
Or does one deny the reality of theater?
Is D's hypothesis that both of us are making unwarranted assumptions while only one of us has self-knowledge of this foible?
Or is D's hypothesis that one of us is making unwarranted assumptions while the other is placing all data in this topic in good logical order?
That constitutes an explanation of the information you have been provided since your birth.
The information, if any, in this statement could use some further explanation!
Is Dr. Dick saying someone was provided information and then a separate phenomenon, "explanation," occurred? I wonder if I am believed to have entertained any "thought" during this process since birth, or had D "thought" this activity is relatively rare in my noggin.
It is an explanation: a reason why things are the way they are. As such, it includes the idea of causality. That is to say, an explanation is a summary of what to expect in what situations. The situation is the cause and what happens is the effect.
Thought is the wild card, and in some circumstances can serve as the semi-randomizer/separator of predictable effects from definite causes. One could deny that cautious statement and explain why.... or fold one's cards by default. Or blarney on, of course.
Causality is entirely a mentally generated relationship and need have nothing to do with reality.
Reality is as tenuous a concept in some situations as causality is in others.
Mike
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