Alime.216 net.misc utzoo!decvax!harpo!floyd!vax135!lime!glenn Thu Apr 15 00:11:38 1982 PSI: Comments from a skeptic Seems to me that you (mhuxt!lute) rested your case without ever making it in the first place. I'm sure glad you're not my attorney. A few words from Dr. Asimov are appropos here: "The scientific view of the Universe is such as to admit only those phenomena that can, in one way or another, be observed in a fashion accessible to all, and to admit those generalizations (which we call laws of nature) that can be induced from those observations." "It is also perfectly possible to say that there are [other phenomena] that can indeed be observed, but only by certain people and only under certain unpredicatable conditions." "That may conceivably be so, but it doesn't fall within the purview of science since under those conditions, *anything* can be said. I can say that the Rocky Mountains are made out of emeralds that have the property of looking like ordinary rock to everyone else but me. You can't disprove that statement but of what value is it? Far from being of value, such statements are so annoying to people generally that anyone who insists on making them is liable to be treated as insane." From "Extraterrestrial Civilizations", by Issac Asimov, Crown Publishers, New york, NY. pp 5-6. As Joe Presley pointed out, those who believe in the existence of Christ do so based on their faith, and make no pretense of scientific rigor in that belief. Psionic enthusiasts are welcome to state beliefs regarding purported psi phenomena. But, as Dr. Asimov says, unless they can demonstrate them in a fashion observable to all, those beliefs do not fall within the purview of science. To present them as such is to exploit the reputation of the scientific method. - Glenn Golden (BTL Holmdel) (...vax135!lime!glenn) ----------------------------------------------------------------- gopher://quux.org/ conversion by John Goerzen of http://communication.ucsd.edu/A-News/ This Usenet Oldnews Archive article may be copied and distributed freely, provided: 1. There is no money collected for the text(s) of the articles. 2. The following notice remains appended to each copy: The Usenet Oldnews Archive: Compilation Copyright (C) 1981, 1996 Bruce Jones, Henry Spencer, David Wiseman.