[MD] Intellectual and Social

[Krimel]

> [Krimel]
> So you are voluntarily placing yourself in the camp of the ignorant and
> stupid?
>

[John]
Yes I am, Krimel.  I am ignorant of the origins of life, the universe and
everything.  And despite my own stupidity, I look down on those who think
they've got it all figured out and dogmaticaly assert their theoretical
framework as absolute fact.

[Krimel]
Dude, wake the fuck up. This isn't some secret cabal plotting to steal your
soul. For Christ, sake it's on Nova and the Discovery channel. If you can't
decipher that you are a fucking idiot.

[John]
I look down on them whether they are popes, priests, preachers or scientist.
 They all seem so wedded to their theories that they've lost any ability to
question, wonder or learn.

[Krimel]
Oh, you mean people who are committed to ideas they believe in? Right,
commitment to truth, as one sees it, is a horrible thing.

> [Krimel]
> I think the universe is more mysterious that any explanation you care to
> offer.

[John]
Well at this time, I haven't offered you one.  You've offered me one.

 I think that the origin of life just has to have more to the story than
sunshine on a rock.  But hey, knock yourself out.  I know an old lady that
thinks it's all resting on the back of a turtle; I don't argue with her
either.

[Krimel]
Ooh, I see, you have no idea what you are talking about. No problem, I am
used to that. 

> [Krimel]
> Chaos is embedded in its very fabric so deeply that any attempt at
> explanation will leave something out. Something important will be unsaid.
>

[John]
And of course as Platt points out, I could say the same about any number of
terms such as Quality, Essence, God, whatever...  My point is that
unsupported postulates tend to make for bad metaphysics.  And your embedded
Chaos is at least as ridiculous as any of the others, so there's no need to
get all smug and superior with your "scientific worldview which arbites all
known reality."

[Krimel]
Oh, so a philosophy rooted in the undefined is bullshit?

> [Krimel]
> Phrases like "scientific worldview of arrogant humanism" just sound like
> the sour grapes of ignorance. Perhaps, you have chosen wisely.

[John]
The intelligent are good at solving problems, the wise are good at avoiding
them.  For instance, a wiseguy like me would advise an ivory-tower-climber
like yourself that studying for the captaincy of the Titanic seems sorta
silly, especially after the ship has already hit the iceberg.

For instance.

[Krimel]
Have you considered that it is dumbasses like yourself who create the
problems that the intelligent must solve and the wise avoid?