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August 04, 2005
Belief in the Truth of a Theory
Posted by jennifer, at 11:11 AM
I wrote these two laws down on a scrap of paper years ago. I still have the scrap of paper but not the original reference.
Harris's First Law:
Belief in the truth of a theory is inversely proportional to the precision of the science.
Harris's Second Law:
The creativity of a scientist is directly proportional to how much he knows, and inversely proportional to how much he believes.
Posted by jennifer at August 4, 2005 11:11 AM
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Comments
So do you have any data to support the validity of these two "laws" Jennifer? Or do you merely believe that they are true? (sorry, couldn't resist!)
Posted by: Steve at August 4, 2005 01:31 PM
Yeah. And I was wondering what the definition of a 'law' was. :)
Posted by: Jennifer at August 4, 2005 02:54 PM
My favourites:
"We haven't got time to do it right the first time, but we've got time to get it wrong a few times"
"A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it."
Max Planck
And a special one for you 'Ender' ;-)
"It is impossible to reason someone out of something they weren't reasoned into."
Jonathan Swift
Forester
Posted by: Forester at August 4, 2005 08:12 PM
Forester - So you think that I was born an environmentalist :-)
Posted by: Ender at August 5, 2005 08:48 AM
Ender, we were only born humans, and then some of us changed, more or less. And some of us remain satisfied with our original state, hence the absence of the urge to be "reborn", or whatever.
Posted by: Louis Hissink at August 5, 2005 09:08 PM
Ender, I too was born an environmentalist, but my socialist indoctrination eventually wore off...
Forester
Posted by: forester at August 9, 2005 08:37 PM