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Experience Is Necessary

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Posted by Harvey on January 25, 2002 02:24:58 UTC

Mike,

My feel for your post is that such a hypothetical person would need direct experiences to acquire knowledge. However, once having had a number of experiences that individual would be capable of generating abstract thought (e.g., logic, math, etc) that would allow them to extend their knowledge beyond experience. For example, a mathematician can 'experience' Banach spaces even though they have no such direct experience in their day to day lives.

I doubt anyone would be able to formulate the laws of physics without direct experience only because there is so much 20/20 hindsight needed to create the mathematics that supports existing physics. For example, many physicists can reconstruct a number of mathematical equations from simple axioms, but this is an after the fact affair after already knowing what the successful theories already are. There are hundreds and thousands of deadends that are mathematically valid, it is just that nature is very particular on the paths she selects.

Warm regards, Harv

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