Am I in it alone?

Question

What if our past discoveries have gotten in the way or distracted us from discovering something better or more beneficial? What if the path (education of past discoveries) we are building upon right now is not the best path we could have taken and there was a better one? Could past discoveries risked us from discovering something better? Have you thought about this before, and what did you do about it?

Answer 1

A great philosopher, Leibnitz, said that 'what is, is'.  That may sound non-sensical at first blush.  I think of it as saying, we are what we are because that was the best we could do up until now.

Theoretical physics has recently (60 yrs or so) postulated that existence is itself both determined (machine-like obeyance of laws) and susceptible to change by stuff that isn't law-like.  

This should encourage the conviction  that reality is influenced by what we do -- as more than one important thinker has stated:  God needs our help (Dietrich Bonhoeffer);  the good and the bad that we do alters in some degree the future of the universe ( the agnostic philosopher, Bertrand Russell).

These thinkers are not to be taken lightly, and certainly not to be dismissed due to the the awful spectacles of history or by knee-jerk conclusions of popular 'rebels'.

I look at my own life and see how much wrong I've done (pick a justification).  But it seems more reasonable to me to that we are here for a reason, even if we can't know what that reason is.  there are lives I have altered for the better, and I know that is true for you also.

Our past discoveries were often paid for in blood.  That is a consideration in those moments when we feel most alone, as if we were in a jungle.  Our ancesters  probably were once.  Email me if you would like some reading selections.  

Stay so serious,    --  Jerry

Answer 2

Although procedures vary from one field of inquiry to another, identifiable features distinguish scientific inquiry from other methodologies of knowledge. Scientific researchers propose hypotheses as explanations of phenomena, and design experimental studies to test these hypotheses. These steps must be repeatable in order to dependably predict any future results. Theories that encompass wider domains of inquiry may bind many hypotheses together in a coherent structure. This in turn may help form new hypotheses or place groups of hypotheses into context.

Answer 3

I say just learn what you are taught, and find out the things you need to know on your own, or through research, that way your education will be complete

Answer 4

ive never thought about that before.... good question. i guess it could be possible, but we just have to keep on discovering what and as much as we can.

Answer 5

The modern medical proffesion is a good example. The Homeopaths and the Allopaths fought it out for control of the medical trade in the "west" in the late 19th century. The homeopaths lost and are now held up as quacks, despite being equally or even more effective at the time-another 100 years of research and experimentaion could have delivered a much more effective and much less intrusive system of medicine than the current system.

The divorce of philosophy and hard science during the enlightenment was one of the biggest lost chances we faced.

Yesterday's freak is tommorrows hero!

Answer 6

You already asked that question.

I have no idea and did nothing.