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[Phys-L] Re: compromise on ID ... or not



They lie.


On Aug 29, 2005, at 4:11 PM, Gary Karshner wrote:

Chris,

I guess it is time to put my foot in my mouth. I teach a
general
astronomy section which lends itself well to a discussion of what a
science
is and more importantly isn't. One straw dog I have used is a
theory that
has an answer for everything. It is called "What will be will be". The
explanation to any observation or experiment can be explained by that
answer, but it is very unsatisfactory since it has zero predictive
power.
Saying the deity did it comes close to this.
Another issue that has been talked around in this discussion,
evolves out of a criticism of Cardinal Bellarmine of the method of
Galileo. The Cardinal points out that Galileo's method can only find
falsity, but not truth. Since he can show various theories are
wrong but
can't prove that a theory is correct. We can, as noted by many of you,
always make up other theories that explain what we see, but can only
eliminate them by performing experiments or taking observations
that are
not consistent with their predictions. Bellarmine's criticism
is fundamental to our modern view of science, and is one of its
intrinsic
limitations.
As one who teaches at a Catholic institution that professes
that
we teach only the truth, it leaves me in something of a quandary.
Gary




Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. Ph.D.
Professor of Physics
Saint Mary's College
Notre Dame, IN 46556