The problem of scientific privilege when it comes to knowledge is pretty much the raison-d’etre of the Psybertron blog since 2001. Scientism. Originally, this arose from concerns in business & organizational management …. my manifesto says:
” … management mistook itself for a science.”
Of course the imperative to make a blog of it was the realization that the organization, management, governance, even democratic self-governance of human activities in general, including science and academia themselves, were suffering the same mistake. Western rational arrogance prompting mid-eastern irrational terrorist reaction of 9/11 was simply the final straw that catalysed the action. Those same circumstances have also created the whole god vs science debates of the past decade. (Still current in the church and state separation debates of the US mid-term elections right now.)
This week’s Thinking Allowed was accompanied by Laurie’s comic newsletter “My Life as a Management Consultant” …. the joke, the gibberish, the ring of truth supported by sounding or claiming to be “scientific”, even science itself.
“Science’s First Mistake — Delusions in Pursuit of Theory”
by Ian Angell and Dionysios Demetis.
Ian Angell interviewed by Laurie Taylor in the second item in this week’s program, some snippets that caught my attention.
Gravity, even just causation in general is a myth. Causation is in your head. It is one of the delusions of science. Delusion in pursuit of theory.
The so far so good fallacy of seeing science as simply contingent, where as it is plain wrong. Jumping from the top of a ten story building and shouting “So far so good” to witnesses on each floor. (Steve McQueen in The Magnificent Seven)
The model changes the world, there is no linear model. Game theory behaviour in action. If DNA is valid forensic science, then any rational criminal simply spreads confusing foreign DNA samples over their crime scene.
The nonsense of scientific models of economic processes. The nonsense – thorough absurdity – of scientific denial of religion. The nonsense of CERN and LHC, and unified theories.
Our model has distinct “objects”, for cognitive reasons, but the world itself does not. Objectivity is a myth. Even numbers.
Julian Huxley (?) “Attempts to prove the truth of religion scientifically is like attempting to explain that the world is round musically.”
Every topic the subject of countless posts here on Psybertron. Excellent.
[Post Note …. and in fact Ian Angell has a WordPress blog too …. Reality Revisited …. where the book can also be downloaded. Reading this article from his LSE web page you might not see him as agnostic as he claims to be, but he is clearly riled-up against scientistic smugness.]
There is no sadder sight than to see someone blinded by what they know, if we whirl around in the trivial enough, we fail to see the relevant.
@Optikal – care to elaborate on who is blinded, and what you consider trivial & relevant in the context of this post ?