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Question For Dr. Dick

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Posted by Michael W. Pearson on January 1, 2005 21:43:14 UTC

Borrowing a quote from the Institute for Science and Society's page in the web archives:

Galileo Galilei wrote:
. . ."That great book which ever lies before our gaze - I mean the universe - but we cannot understand if we do not first learn the language and grasp the symbols in which it is written."

Dr. Dick's paper addresses "foundations of physical reality."
Dr. Dick has previously said, basically, that nobody can understand the universe as well as he can unless they can follow his math. Is Dr. Dick then claiming that with his math and "human mathematic syntax," we are seeing the exact language which writes the book of the universe?

The rest of the quotes:

"I have sworn upon the altar of God, eternal hostility against every form of tyranny
over the mind of man."
-- Thomas Jefferson

"Science and Peace will triumph over Ignorance and War. Nations will unite,
not to destroy, but to build, and the future will belong to those who will have
done the most for suffering humanity."
-- Louis Pasteur

"To understand the things that are at our door is the best preparation
for understanding those things that lie beyond."
-- Hypatia

"Where there is matter, there is geometry."
-- Johannes Kepler

"In the next century, planet Earth faces the potential hazard of rapid environmental change,including climate warming, rising
sea level, deforestation, desertification, ozone depletion, acid rain and reduction in biodiversity. Many important questions
remain unanswered . . . and understanding (is) essential."
- - NASA Earth Observing Handbook

"The electric fields and the waves we talk about are not just some happy thoughts
which we are free to make as we wish, but ideas which must be consistent
with all the laws of physics we know."
- - Richard Feynman

"Proper questioning often means that one is more than half the way towards
solving the problem."
- - Werner Heisenberg

"Remember; if you must 'child-proof' your home because a six- year old is coming
to visit, what you fear is in part the child's scientific curiosity -- to investigate every
object reachable to learn if, and perhaps how it works. The child may be undisciplined
and uninhibited, but he or she is asking relevant questions and actually
experimenting to obtain answers; those are the characteristics of an excellent scientist."
-- Mike McCormack

"Not many appreciate the ultimate power and potential usefulness of basic knowledge accumulated by obscure, unseen investigators who, in a lifetime of intensive study, may never see any practical use for their findings but who go on seeking answers to the unknown without thought of financial or practical gain."
--Eugenie Clark

"A society that turns its back on science has to face decay and deterioration."
-- Maxine Singer

"Misapplication of the scientific method has laid the groundwork for the modern totalitarian state. " -- F.A. Hayek

"Mankind is prone to seek an explanation of uncommon phenomena only, while the ordinary changes of nature, which are in themselves
equally wonderful, are disregarded."
-- Almira Lincoln Phelps

"Science is a very human form of knowledge. We are always at the brink of the known. Every judgement in science stands on the edge of error and is personal. Science is a tribute to what we can know even though we are fallible."
-- Jacob Bronowski

The best way to foster appreciation of longterm values is to foster acquisition
of longterm knowledge.
paraphrased from Aristotle

" . . . I see no limit to the extent to which intelligence and will, guided by sound
principles of investigation, and organized in common effort, may modify the conditions of existence, for a period longer than that now covered by history." --T. H. Huxley

. . ."The method of invention involves the disciplined attack upon
one difficulty after another."
-- Alfred North Whitehead

"The power of knowledge is appreciated by manufacturers. They take
advantage of every new step in science."
-- Ellen Swallow

"An impersonal and scientific knowledge of the structure of our bodies
is the surest safeguard against prurient curiousity and lascivious gloating."
-- Marie Carmichael Stopes

"Physics is puzzle-solving, too, but of puzzles created by nature, not by the mind of man."
-- Maria Goeppert Mayer

"Scientific leaders call for educating the public to achieve 'scientific literacy,'
but little attention is given to the need for scientists to achieve 'public literacy.'"
-- Charles Weiner

"It is impossible to dissociate language from science or science from language."
- - Antoine Lavoisier

* Original source unknown:
There is a tendency to rush to judgement in fields other than our own.

I t is not sensible that people do not know the freely available facts and questions about their universe, even though learning may be time-consuming.

Most people use "common sense" to make decisions when the problem
outweighs their science or legal learning.

Whatever you think about science, it has made life _possible for most people.

Scientific knowledge is a monument more permanent than bronze.

We must understand the basics before we can understand the complexities.

There is a strong correlation between a region's
economic prosperity and its longterm commitment to science education.

Error is normal because real accuracy is often a small target. Knowing that should help us do our work honestly.

Our thoughts and beliefs, whether true or not, have consequences. Therefore we should base them on true information.
-- from various sources


"Complex systems (ie. food, medicine, engineering) have enabled the support of vastly more human life, and these complex systems make necessary a better fostering of knowledge (science) to improve our stewardship of Earth.
-- M.W.Pearson

"If the question is put to me, would I rather have a miserable ape for a grandfather, or a man highly endowed by nature and possessing great means and influence and yet who employs those faculties and that influence for the mere purpose of introducing ridicule into a grave scientific discussion -- I unhesitatingly affirm my preference for the ape."
- - Thomas H. Huxley

"It is my task to convince you not to turn away because you don't understand it.
You see my physics students don't understand it . . . That is because I don't understand it.
Nobody does."
-- Richard Feynman

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