Jayson_Virissimo comments on Rationality Quotes May 2012 - Less Wrong

6 Post author: OpenThreadGuy 01 May 2012 11:37PM

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Comment author: Jayson_Virissimo 01 May 2012 07:58:52AM *  10 points [-]

Scientific Realism is the only philosophy that doesn't make the success of science a miracle.

-Hilary Putnam

Comment author: RobinZ 01 May 2012 02:53:45PM *  4 points [-]

One quote per post, please.

Edit: Belated thanks!

Comment author: RobertLumley 12 May 2012 01:43:47AM 1 point [-]

If they are strongly related, reply to your own comments.

I'm assuming Jayson_Virissimo felt they were strongly related.

Comment author: RobinZ 12 May 2012 05:25:42AM 0 points [-]

Indeed he did - but the two quotes were in the same comment until after I posted my request. That's why there's an asterisk after the timestamp on the original quote post - the comment was edited to remove the Bas van Fraassen quote.

Comment author: RobertLumley 12 May 2012 05:40:46AM 1 point [-]

Ah, my apologies. That's what I get for reading the thread 11 days late. :-)

Comment author: RobinZ 12 May 2012 06:50:09AM 2 points [-]

And that's what I get for not editing my comment to say, "Edit: Thanks!"

Speaking of which....

Comment author: Jayson_Virissimo 01 May 2012 04:05:16PM 10 points [-]

I claim that the success of current scientific theories is no miracle. It is not even surprising to the scientific (Darwinist) mind. For any scientific theory is born into a life of fierce competition, a jungle red in tooth and claw. Only the successful theories survive — the ones which in fact latched on to actual regularities in nature.

-Bas van Fraassen

Comment author: J_Taylor 01 May 2012 09:54:17PM 1 point [-]

Putnam of all people really should have known better than to use the word 'miracle'.

Comment author: hairyfigment 03 May 2012 07:56:27AM -1 points [-]

How do you figure??

Comment author: J_Taylor 03 May 2012 06:13:42PM 2 points [-]

There is no dominant conceptual analysis of 'miracle' such that Putnam's sentence has a clear and distinct meaning. (I may be incorrect about this; I do not follow Philosophy of Religion.) Of course, since Putnam was writing to an extremely secular audience (by American standards), 'miracle' is a useful slur that essentially translates to 'WTF is this I don't even'.

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