[MD] Faith

[ian glendinning]

DMB, et al ...

You bring up a good Pirsig quote there ...

> Responding to the assertion that science cannot proceed without
> presuppositions, Pirsig said,...
>
> "That is true but this presuppostion is not an act of faith. Faith occurs
> when in the presence of conclusive contrary information he still clings to
> his presupposition."

Very clever of Pirsig, the old rhetorician, to put it this way, but
...this just shifts the problem to the definition of "conclusive
contrary information".

Most "good" scientists hold fast to their tenets, and demand some
"good" evidence of contrary indications - unless of course the
original thought was a mere hypothesis, or worse pure supposition, not
previously well tested by empirical experience. (And there are
boundaries to science with very little direct empirical evidence -
just consistency with other levels of observation and explanation.)

All I'm saying is that the (significant) difference between faith and
knowledge is qualitative - about the quality of evidence. I'm sure
even those of "faith" modify their faith in the light of experience.
Religion evolves too.

Enough already - we are just arguing the sematics of faith and evidence.

Ian