Let's say you are a phd student. Let's say you go to your orals committee and propose a dissertation topic. Let's say, they ask you, why are you interested in that? You reply, "it just interests me." Do you get the degree?
Or let's say you apply for a prestigious NSF fellowship. On the line which asks you to explain the importance of your proposed research you write, "It just interests me." Will you get the money? Let's say you are writing a paper for a leading journal in your field. In the introduction to the article you write, "The question chosen for research was one of great personal interest to me." And then you go on to the Methods section. In the discussion section you write, "And thus my curiosity was satisfied." Will it be published? If so, I wish I had known this all along. What a lot of work it would have saved. Nick From: friam-boun...@redfish.com [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Douglas Roberts Sent: Monday, April 09, 2012 10:37 AM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] So, *Are* We Alone? Nick, It's actually pretty simple. No surprise, there, what with me being an engineer & all. There are only two requirements for getting me to believe in something: 1. I have to be interested enough about the topic to even care if it is worth believing in, and 2. Sufficient evidence must exist to support whatever claim is requiring my belief. Sadly, the topic of "induction" and all the intricacies involving the philosophy of "induction" as a thought process does not meet requirement number 1, above. --Doug On Sun, Apr 8, 2012 at 12:23 PM, Nicholas Thompson <nickthomp...@earthlink.net> wrote: Hi doug, and Bruce I realize that the following was hundreds of words deep in a verbose email message, and so it is understandable that you did not respond, but I am curious about your response. I think we either have to be prepared to say why our faith [in induction] is better than their [faith in God], or be prepared to be beaten all the way back into the Dark Ages. Hence my interest in the problem of induction. Also, I was curious about your comment that you were not all that keen on induction. Can you describe how, if not by induction, you come to believe things. Nick From: friam-boun...@redfish.com [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Douglas Roberts Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 10:37 PM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] So, *Are* We Alone? Yes, well; I'm not entirely sure it works that way, at least not for me. It's either interesting, or it's not. Examining how other folks derive their fascinations just doesn't, you know, get my hormones flowing. --Doug On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 8:12 PM, Nicholas Thompson <nickthomp...@earthlink.net> wrote: Where we seem to disagree is on one of my most fundatmental ideas: if somebody finds something interesting, there must be an underlying question or issue to which the phenomenon has gotten attached in their mind that I WOULD find interesting if I knew it. I was asking you to expand my experience. Or not. Nick From: <mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com> friam-boun...@redfish.com [mailto: <mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com> friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Douglas Roberts Sent: Wednesday, April 04, 2012 5:09 PM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] So, *Are* We Alone? <Lilke> On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 5:06 PM, Bruce Sherwood <bruce.sherw...@gmail.com> wrote: Uh, does there have to be a reason? I'm interested just because I am -- a portion of trying to understand as much about the Universe we inhabit as is possible. To put it another way: Why are you interested in the details of the definition or use of induction? I found that discussion massively uninteresting and irrelevant to the actual practice of science. There are many variants of philistinism, and of engagement. Bruce On Wed, Apr 4, 2012 at 2:55 PM, Nicholas Thompson <nickthomp...@earthlink.net> wrote: > I go back to the original question I asked Owen. Why are these fantasies > INTERESTING?. Now, quickly, I have to admit, they don't capture my > imagination that well. But I also have to admit that I firmly believe that > NOBODY is interested in anything for nothing. IE, wherever there is an > interest in something, there is a cognitive quandary, a seam in our thinking > that needs to be respected. So I assume that there IS a reason these > fantasies are interesting [to others] and that that REASON is interesting. > The reason is always more pragmantic and immediate than our fighting off > being absorbed into a black hole. Speaking of which: Weren't the > Kardashians some race on some planet on StarTrek. What color where THEIR > noses? And how did the writers of StarTrek know they were coming > > > > Nick ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org -- Doug Roberts drobe...@rti.org d...@parrot-farm.net http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins 505-455-7333 - Office 505-670-8195 - Cell ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org -- Doug Roberts drobe...@rti.org d...@parrot-farm.net http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins 505-455-7333 - Office 505-670-8195 - Cell ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org -- Doug Roberts drobe...@rti.org d...@parrot-farm.net http://parrot-farm.net/Second-Cousins 505-455-7333 - Office 505-670-8195 - Cell
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