John_Mann

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Posts by John_Mann

• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

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  John_Mann

  Lately there's a better awareness about scientism like these funny memes around the Internet:

  

  
  
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  John_Mann

  So basically just maths then?

  Actually we use more the heuristic method than the scientific method.

  And it works.

  The scientific method is very very limited. Even between areas of science the scientific method must be adapted. The scientific method is not even universal among the areas of science.

  
  
  
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  John_Mann

  I am deeply suspicious of a lot of what people label as metaphysics.

  Most of the time my specif topic from metaphysics is ontology.

  What is matter?

  What is matter without an observer?

  What is exactly the difference between something that went out of existence from something that has drastically changed?

  Throughout our lifetimes we change drastically (even losing vital organs) but we dont cease to exist. Is clinical death the exit from existence or just an extreme change?

  What's the difference between a perfect description of something from the thing in itself?

  These are not scientific questions. So we access knowledge from universe beyond the scientific method. That's metaphysics.
  
  
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  John_Mann

  Does history count as knowledge? For example.

  Marxism is based on the idea that history is reduced to matter. Crazy idea called historical materialism. It's a kind of scientism.

  Everything must be material even beauty must be explained. Music is only matter and motion for instance.

  That's why modern art is so ugly.

  One characteristic of truth is beauty.
• 
  51

  Why are the evolutionist's so upset?

  by Esse quam videri in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  so many evolutionist's on this forum are upset at the terror attacks in europe such as recently in sweden.

  it is just a logical step in the evolution of the human race.

  should you not rather be celebrating the great changes taking place right before your eyes and constructing detailed explanations of the cell structure and dna development in the human brain.. you can't eat your cake and still have it.

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• 

  John_Mann

  Yes I can see the flaw in JW logic about blood. The symbol (blood meaning life) itself is more important than the real thing (life).

  But I don't see the JW doctrine of blood being an analogy of how Law consider the human superiority.
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  John_Mann

  I asked you for a specific example of something we could learn "about the universe" from a source other than the application of science. You refused to give one so we are no further forward.

  Music is one example.

  Do you mean like expecting science to tell us whether we ought to prefer pistachio or chocolate ice cream?

  Exactly.

  On the other hand when theists claim that god acts in the physical world - as you have - it is entirely reasonable to turn to science to investigate those claims. That would be a proper application of science.

  Even if we have a physical evidence like a medical cure for instance it's not possible to consider this physical evidence as scientific evidence because repeatability.

  If someone claims to have been cured then we can scientifically investigate if such cure indeed had occurred. But we can't put a scientific evidence about the cause of such cure.

  The Catholic Church for instance demands a scientific evidence about cures. The scientific evidence will only states that some improbable cure had occurred and that's it. The scientific evidence can't say if was a paranormal cure. Usually the scientific conclusion is just "no natural explanation found".

  There's a very defined line when science ends and metaphysical claims can be made upon it.

  Particularly I think clinical cures are rare and only occurs in a Catholic context.

  
  
  
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  John_Mann

  Again:

  Scientism = a metaphysical claim about the scientific method being the only valid way to get knowledge about the universe. And also the universal applicability of the scientific method.

  One example of scientism is demanding scientific evidence to things beyond the scope of the scientific method.
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  John_Mann

  I don't understand you cofty.

  Your position is scientism does not exist? Yes or not?

  Even if great philosophers of science like Karl Popper and Hilary Putnam recognized the dangers of scientism?

  Can't you see you personally is a follower of scientism in denial?
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  John_Mann

  Which is convenient.

  Not if you consider the concept of God and the concept of scientific method.

  I consider the St. Anselm's concept of God which is much older than the concept of the scientific method.

  Catholicism never needed to adapt official concepts of God because the scientific method.

  A witness saying "I saw that man in the dock rob the bank" is not the same as "I prayed for something nice to happen to me today and then someone put a £50 through my letterbox therefore God answered my prayer."

  Exactly.

  That's why I said Christians make a lot of nonsense claims.
  
  
• 
  147

  Scientism - Nothing But a Childish Insult?

  by cofty in

  1. watchtower
  2. beliefs

  it is not uncommon for theists to accuse rational people on this forum of "scientism".. in my opinion it is nothing but a cheap shot from those who know they lack evidence for their beliefs.

  if something like "scientism" actually does exist then i have never encountered it.. here is part of an exchange from another thread - i have brought it here as it was off-topic.... scientism = claim of scientific method being universal and the only valid method of knowledge.

  followers of scientism always demand scientific evidence to anything.

  1. 
  2. 
  3. 
• 

  John_Mann

  You mean evidence which is baseless interpretation, highly subjective, carries a high risk of confirmation bias, difficult to independently verify, not subject to peer review and so on. In other words, everything that scientific method has been developed to avoid.

  Taking out the "baseless" is exactly what you said.

  Scientism bias makes people forget there are several types of evidence beyond scientific evidence.

  Testimonial evidence is accepted as valid in Law for instance.