The limitations of science (The limitations of science)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Wednesday, February 24, 2010, 15:41 (5384 days ago) @ dhw

dhw,-My wife being a teacher (in training) also gets this journal for free, I forget the name off the top of my head, but it's about preserving indigenous human cultures. An article popped into my head as I reread your response here. -The article was about the comparison of western science to native methods of gaining information. The writer was criticising science stating that this slow method of gaining knowledge simply isn't supported by the speed that is typically required of native cultures to respond and adapt to changes in their environment. Clearly, all humans engage in inductive reasoning about their environment, but the writer claimed that the information gained by native methods was instantly transferable and ready to be applied, whereas in the western method we've grown accustomed to waiting for long periods of time before useful information comes down. This is certainly a valid bit of reasoning--it can take a decade before a result or a finding finds application in a real-world solution for something, whereas even if the reasoning might be a bit faulty, traditional cultures have apparently survived well by simply testing and applying immediately.

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\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"