On Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 2:19 PM, Daniel C. <[email protected]> wrote: > On Fri, Apr 22, 2011 at 9:59 PM, Steven Morrey <[email protected]> wrote: >> "Imagination is more important than knowledge" - Einstein > > Yes, and that's why after he imagined relativity, he went right out > and told everyone about it without further consideration. I'm sure > there was absolutely no work either before or after his imagining of > this new theory. No preliminary work, no years of study of > mathematics and physics to bring him to a point where he could grasp > Newtonian physics and (further) be able to see where they begin to > fall apart. No time whatsoever spent in front of a blackboard, > racking (or do I want "wracking"?) his brain (which was certainly not > filled with hard-earned knowledge) for a solution. And after he > imagined himself up a new theory he certainly didn't spend any time > discussing it with his peers, testing it, making predictions and then > checking them. No, of course not - all that existed was his brief > flash of inspiration followed instantly by publication and fame, and > on that flash we have based all further investigation into theoretical > physics. We are entirely justified in dismissing the importance of > knowledge, critical thought and hard work, and in placing all of our > effort into imagination for its own sake.
And despite all the effort gone into the theory and things coming out of it, it is still just a theory, and with demonstrable flaws at that--yet most physicists refuse to even question it--they *believe* it, and consider it a rock-solid foundation to base other stuff on top of... The current state of modern physics is essentially that of a tightly-controlled religion with a canon of esoteric maths--if you dare to question the underpinnings you are belittled, mocked, hushed, and/or shunned as a quack--science has all but been left behind. So, my point being, I'd bet that there's only a minority of people that don't fall into the trap--whether politics, religion, field of study, or anything else. That's not to excuse anyone, myself included, from doing so, just saying that it's common enough to argue that it's a part of human nature. /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
