alan@allegra.UUCP (Alan S. Driscoll) (07/01/84)
[ This is an open letter to Rich Rosen. As far as I can tell, the original never made it onto the net, so I'm reposting it. ] Rich, there are two things that bother me about your articles: (1) There is something fundamentally uncertain about the human situation. You've tried to show people this, to get them to see that ultimately, they can't defend their beliefs. Great. Then you seem to expect people to give up their beliefs, since they can't be defended. But no belief system can be defended! And without any world view, people resemble marshmallows. Do you see my point? Ok, so now I know I can't prove anything. (And I'm a better person for it.) Why should I drop my beliefs? What would I replace them with? Other beliefs? (Sorry, being a marshmallow isn't my idea of fun.) By the way, have you given up your beliefs yet? Don't you act as if the sun will rise in the morning, even though YOU CAN'T PROVE THAT IT EVER HAS, OR EVER WILL. (And before you try to argue that one, remember YOU CAN'T PROVE I EXIST, so why are you arguing with me?) I think the best you can do is to take your world view lightly, and to be flexible. Some contributors to the net (on both sides of the fence) are rigid and overly sure of themselves. I don't expect anyone to reject their belief system, I'd just like to see people loosen up a bit. Which brings me to... (2) You're one of the people who's overly sure of his world view, and needs to loosen up! You keep telling us how rational you are. You're not like the rest of us -- your beliefs are based on reason. But you can't prove anything by logic alone. You have to start with axioms and inference rules, and how do you justify them? You can't use logic! Historically, they have been justified by APPEALS TO INTUITION. Considering your recent tirade about intuition, you seem to be caught between a rock and a hard place. Well, we all are. I'd just like to see you be more honest about it. -- Alan S. Driscoll AT&T Bell Laboratories
dsaker@iuvax.UUCP (07/01/84)
Alan Driscoll - You seem to be using the term "belief" in a way that is
different from most religious believers. They are convinced that what they
believe is true. You, however, seem to be saying: "I know that what I
believe may well be false; I'm just going along with these beliefs as
hypotheses."
Rich (& others) have been addressing the issue of belief in the
sense of conviction. Part of what Rich (along with others) has been saying
is: "If you don't have proof for your beliefs, why be convinced that they are
true?" Your reply would seem to be: "Don't be convinced." And I, for one,
am glad for that.
Daryel Akerlind
...ihnp4!inuxc!iuvax!dsaker