History has not finished yet, and I am proposing that we try to ensure that it doesn't.
If you truly think I am wrong in my assertion, then you have a moral duty to show me - and the rest of the world - on the basis of clear and unambiguous empirical evidence where and how I am wrong. Without such evidence you have only your opinion, which of course is safe for you in a democracy, and that you have an opinion can be important, especially if it is well thought out. "Agreeing to disagree" is an honourable stance when accompanied by respect. The modern era is so because of the advent of scientific method. Buddha, Jesus of Nazareth, KongZi, LaoZi, Socrates, Pythagoras, Archimedes, and the rest knew nothing of scientific method, certainly not as we know it. They lived and benefited from what were, essentially, slave societies in which the ascription of sub-human status was made upon the servant classes and unfavoured ethnic groups. To put it simply, most people, for most of the history of 'civilisation', have been treated as things, mere things, by their rulers. Ignorance, fear, superstition, have been the guardians of poverty and the champions of warfare for millennia, but we don't really have time for that any more, and it time for us all to grow up. The Buddha, Jesus, and many others made plain that compassion is not a symptom of weakness but a necessary attribute of true human strength; ethics is the foundation of civilisation; Karl Popper explained the intrinsic logic underlying the success of democracy in comparison with competing forms of government and those of us who live in democracies, imperfect though they are, we know - if we are honest with ourselves - that we don't really want to 'go back' to feudal authoritarianism with its necessary commitment to warfare and xenophobia; the application of scientific method is transforming the human species in a way unparalleled since the advent of versatile grammar. The changes wrought to us and this world we call ours, following the advent of science, can only be dealt with by the further application of the method, and so it will ever be. Hmm, I went on more than I intended here, but the issue is not trivial, and it is not going to go away. Regards Mark Peaty CDES [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.arach.net.au/~mpeaty/ Quentin Anciaux wrote: > This is completely arbitrary and history does not show this. > > Quentin > > 2007/6/22, Mark Peaty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: >> CDES = Compassion, Democracy, Ethics, and Scientific method >> >> These are prerequisites for the survival of civilisation. >> >> Regards >> >> Mark Peaty CDES >> >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> http://www.arach.net.au/~mpeaty/ >> >> >> >> >> >> David Nyman wrote: >>> On Jun 21, 8:03 pm, Mark Peaty <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >>> >>>> I always come back to the simplistic viewpoint that >>>> relationships are more fundamental than numbers, but >>>> relationships entail existence and difference. >>> I sympathise. In my question to Bruno, I was trying to establish >>> whether the 'realism' part of 'AR' could be isomorphic with my idea of >>> a 'real' modulated continuum (i.e. set of self-relationships). But I >>> suspect the answer may well be 'no', in that the 'reality' Bruno >>> usually appeals to is 'true' not 'concrete'. I await clarification. >>> >>>> Particles of matter are knots, >>>> topological self entanglements of space-time which vary in their >>>> properties depending on the number of self-crossings and >>>> whatever other structural/topological features occur. >>> Yes, knot theory seems to be getting implicated in this stuff. Bruno >>> has had something to say about this in the past. >>> >>>> If an >>>> mbrane interpenetrates another, this would provide >>>> differentiation and thus the beginnings of structure. >>> Yes, this may be an attractive notion. I've wondered about myself. >>> 'Interpenetration' - as a species of interaction - still seems to >>> imply that different 'mbranes' are still essentially the same 'stuff' >>> - i.e. modulations of the 'continuum' - but with some sort of >>> orthogonal (i.e. mutually inaccessible) dimensionality >>> >>> PS - Mark, what is CDES? >>> > > > > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
