[Chris Hornbeck]

On Thu, 08 Nov 2007 03:18:55 +0000, Eeyore
wrote:

To say that we have the answers is the end of science and
the beginning of religion.

NO.

Religion requies belief in some idea without regard to whether it may be a real
or practical possibility.

I would say instead that religion is belief without the possibility
of refutation. Science is the process of attempting refutation.

And engineering is flying blind somewhere in between. So's life.

In short, 'belief' requires that one must dismiss facts as inconsequential and
give preference instead to story telling. Hence religion must be seen as a
cancer on the world.

And I would say that "belief" is a practical compromise in a given
situation in order to take the next step without falling. Do you
really, really believe that there's a solid ground there in front
of your foot? It's a leap of faith, and in some attic, someday,
might prove to be unwarranted.

We never, ever, ever, know the "truth" or even anything vaguely
remotely like it. We only ever see or hear a magnificently
orchestrated simulation of it, all constructed by three pounds
of wetware. Folks in our biz know something of the current
impossibilty of understanding our listening process, but would
be astonished at the processing involved in vision, which we
"believe" completely. All of the rectilinear geometry and
color variations, to give two high-profile examples, are
*completely* internal constructs - totally simulations. All
generated by computing horsepower.

But we "believe" our vision completely. We can't even choose
not to.

(Story telling and myths are a separate subject inappropriate
to the newsgroup, but are IMO separately valuable elements of
humanity).

Much thanks, as always,

Chris Hornbeck