tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307187040250193857.post1006651397147166592..comments2024-03-20T03:33:22.357-07:00Comments on Skeptophilia: Locking yourself into errorGordon Bonnethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06003472005971594466noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307187040250193857.post-74540066390089579922017-02-04T11:50:45.661-08:002017-02-04T11:50:45.661-08:00Perhaps objective reality, fact, and reason exist,...Perhaps objective reality, fact, and reason exist, but no human is capable of approaching them without some level of bias and subjectivity. We can do our best to make sure our conclusions fit all available evidence as well as possible, while acknowledging that another person's point of view might lead her to draw different conclusions or emphasise evidence that we may have found less important. This approach gives us a basis for discounting views that are not based in evidence at all or on a carefully preselected set of evidence. But it acknowledges that what appears to be objectivity and reason has often been merely conformity with the status quo of a dominant class or culture. woolcathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15005298164560477067noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307187040250193857.post-7157377527924843482017-01-31T12:56:46.785-08:002017-01-31T12:56:46.785-08:00Matthew E: " I wonder if there are some... po...Matthew E: " I wonder if there are some... positions? that are axiomatic enough that they can't be interrogated in this way."<br /><br />I find that an excellent point, and one that we discuss in decision science--any system, including logical ones, must start with basic axioms that must be accepted--not proved--for proving them would require more axioms, ad infinitum--turtles all the way down. ;)<br /><br />In science, one of the axioms is "Objective reality, fact, and reason exist, no matter how hard they are to see, prove, and test."<br /><br />For subjectivists it is "There is no such thing as objective reality, truth, and reason, everything is subjective, and just a matter of one's point of view."<br /><br />I cannot see any way to convince subjectivists that they are wrong. Can you?<br /><br />Thanks for a thoughtful article on an important topic, Gordon.Georgehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10252956243740778339noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307187040250193857.post-88035325814569392792017-01-28T06:36:45.211-08:002017-01-28T06:36:45.211-08:00You are getting to the core consideration in this ...You are getting to the core consideration in this post. Reminds me of my favorite refrigerator bumper stickers "It is easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they have been fooled." Mark TwainCrow Johnsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13796776424724474740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4307187040250193857.post-15505897587134773732017-01-28T04:47:51.623-08:002017-01-28T04:47:51.623-08:00This is good, but I wonder if there are some... po...This is good, but I wonder if there are some... positions? that are axiomatic enough that they can't be interrogated in this way. Like, what would it take to convince me that, after all, yes, you really should be mean to people? I don't even know what that would be like.Matthew Ehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01007497367844755093noreply@blogger.com