Posted by
Bruce Sherwood on
Apr 04, 2012; 11:06pm
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/So-Are-We-Alone-tp7425235p7438364.html
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
<
[hidden email]> 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
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