Admin1: Yippee! Congratulations! You had your first comment!
Dr. Gravytee: Nothing to be excited about. I get thousands of comments every day. I just thought this one was the first one worth approving.
A1: I see. I agree with everything your anonymous commenter said.
Dr. G: I don't.
A1: Obviously science is not a unit that is measured.
Dr. G: We can measure progress if we define a unit for it. I defined the unit to measure progress as the building of a mechanical clock. The commenter gave that as an example of one of the greatest achievements of Europeans.
A1: What about thousands of years humans spent to discover the alphabet.
Dr. G: Alphabet is an agreed upon set of symbols. What humans needed to discover was that only when parties agree upon a standard that communication becomes possible. Today our real alphabet is the QWERTY keyboard which has many more symbols than the "classic" alphabet still taught in schools out of scholastic inertia.
A1: You are so impressed with the present century. Without the previous centuries we wouldn't be here.
Dr. G: I don't subscribe to the continuous progress view. The break from the European scholastic tradition when pilgrims migrated to the new continent made this century possible not a build up on European scholasticism.
A1: There are more scientists today than in previous centuries.
Dr. G: Regular folks/Doctors ratio has stayed the same throughout history. The amateur scientist/Doctors ratio is also a constant. Amateur scientist type mentioned by the commenter always makes the new discoveries. Edison comes to mind. These are the people who tinker in their garages and discover new stuff. Doctors park their cars in their garages.
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4 comments:
I don't see how the arrival in the New World is a break from European tradition. Everything went pretty much the same. Religious wars, genocide, establishment of universities, people working in their garages just like eccentric Renaissance European philosophers in their home labs. In fact, all of the hard scientific disciplines underwent tremendous progress in Europe. America was the biggest consumer of European culture and ideas up to the 20th century (a good case can be made that it was up to WW2 especially from Hemingway novels). And now you want to say that America appeared all on its own and represents a break from a continuous tradition of human development?
In America there was a lot more room for error. Even with a flawed document like the constitution (the Canadian one is much better), the land was so vast, and the number of immigrants arriving was vast as well, that big errors were permitted (i.e. civil war) and the country could continue to prosper. In the old world, you make one mistake, and you're not in charge of Cyprus anymore.
Oh, Happy New Year!
I read some other entries on this blog, and it is pretty funny, even if I disagree with a lot of it. But I was just wondering, since you probably have tenure in a major research university, does expressing these views on "alphysics" to your colleagues in public get you in trouble?
Thanks for your comment. You make good points and I agree with most of them.
Regarding the arrival in the new world I was thinking about Benjamin Franklin. He lived in Europe for a long time but he was able to make great experiments on electricity because he ignored European Newtonism. Newton did not know anything about the new science of electricity and in fact obstructed its development by not publishing Stephen Gray's experiments. I think this is the usual European academic attitude. I mean hoarding knowledge instead of sharing it. I believe that with Franklin in the new country with vast resources there was a break from European science. Instead of obstructing the development of science, Franklin established public libraries. This seems to me to be the right attitude.
The point you make about the country being vast and full of resources is actually the most complete break from Europe. This changed how people in the new continent perceived the world. For instance, someone like Edison did not exist in Europe. And European Newtonist physicists dubbed Edison a wizard and never granted him the status of a scientist. Like Franklin, Edison too totally ignored European scientific tradition, that is why he could make so many scientific discoveries. I have an essay about this I will have to dig and post.
Thanks again. I'll have to study what you wrote further.
Anonymous,
I believe that what is called physics today is at a pre-scientific state because the professional industry called academic physics is not regulated. Since this is what I believe sincerely I am not worried about writing about it.
The word Alphysics seems to describe this unregulated state well. Once physics industry is regulated and Doctors of Philosophy will give up their authority over their professional code, the industry will become physics in the old sense. Doctors, having authority over the language, corrupted the meaning of the old word "physics."
In previous eras, Thales, Galileo and Fermat were rational individuals who noticed how Doctors always corrupt science to advance their careers.
Thank you.
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