The Edge Question 2011

http://www.edge.org/q2011/q11_1.html
http://www.edge.org/q2011/q11_index.html#contributors

"The term 'scientific' is to be understood in a broad sense as the most reliable way of gaining knowledge about anything, whether it be the human spirit, the role of great people in history, or the structure of DNA. A 'scientific concept' may come from philosophy, logic, economics, jurisprudence, or other analytic enterprises, as long as it is a rigorous conceptual tool that may be summed up succinctly (or 'in a phrase') but has broad application to understanding the world."

I feel bad for this thread receiving so little attention!

Just from the first page...

Possibility Spaces is a good call, but the guy gives a freakin' stupid example where you have to know whether the host has revealed the leftmost or rightmost dud - how would anyone know that? Shame, missed an opportunity to introduce a valuable concept.

Also the Edge of the Circle guy gives a bunch of silly examples - ones where there is obviously a continuum - when really he's just saying 'extremists are stupid'. We all know that!

The Mirror Fallacy is another good call. And simply put. "...realizing that the way we interpret the social world is through projection might help us reappraise these situations and beware." Amen.

The whole site makes interesting reading. Bookmarked, and I'll drop back to it whenver I fancy a brain prod.

And the Skeptical Empiricism suggestion is one which would be a healthy addition to the diet of many RevTKers. Unfortunately Gerald Holton doesn't explain it in his entry. Wikipedia to the rescue (as usual).

Heh, glad somebody noticed. I love that site. Always provides a bevy of stimulating ideas to agree and disagree with. If nothing else, it lets me put concepts into words.