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Re: [OM] In case you hadn't heard....

Subject: Re: [OM] In case you hadn't heard....
From: Chris Barker <ftog@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 22 Mar 2014 07:24:15 +0000
I'll try and think of a better word, Andrew, but "guessword" encapsulates my 
general scepticism towards science at the moment.  It's one reason that I won't 
accept GM as a way to produce foodstuffs.

Chris

On 22 Mar 14, at 06:46, Andrew Fildes <afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I can't accept that, I'm afraid. 
> Trial and error is a legitimate experimental technique which implies testing 
> various likely scenarios until one works. And trying more of them to see if 
> another one works even better. It's not just 'having a go and hoping for the 
> best'. 
> I'm reading a novel at present about someone trying to develop an artificial 
> intelligence (AI computer). Nothing special but entertaining. The essence of 
> it is that AI should at least partly mimic the usual human routine rather 
> than the usual digital processing  - the first response is a fast reaction 
> based on prior knowledge and it may be wrong or at least only partly right. 
> The second part is the the close reasoning informed by it, involving the 
> collection of data, compiling it into evidence, developing an hypothesis and 
> proceeding to test it to develop an explanatory theory.
> 'Guesswork' is only the first, reactive part of the process. You should not 
> stop there and it is demeaning to style all scientific hypotheses and 
> theories as such.  By your definition, the design of the roof over your head 
> or the air beneath your wings is based on a guess and I'd find 
> that…threatening. You really, really need a better word. 

-- 
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