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To: exDemMom
A brief comment for now, will enter the fray again later today, wife willing.

As far as I can tell, the only thing that sets scientists apart from other people as far as beliefs, lifestyles, etc., is that we chose science for a career instead of something else, like accounting or firefighting.

Intellectual pride sets them apart as well. The closest thing to an intellectually humble scientist I have ever seen (and surely they broke the mold when they made him) was Richard Feynman.

Cheers!

373 posted on 02/26/2012 5:46:23 AM PST by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: grey_whiskers
Intellectual pride sets them apart as well. The closest thing to an intellectually humble scientist I have ever seen (and surely they broke the mold when they made him) was Richard Feynman.

I think that is a matter of perception more than anything else. A scientist is always aware that the conclusions they make on the basis of their research can be overturned or shown to be wrong by someone who approaches the same topic from a different direction. As a result, our language tends to be uncertain--the scientific literature is full of probabilistic language "might, possibly, could, suggests".

It occurs to me that you might have made that judgment based on scientists popularized by the media (like Carl Sagan). If that is the case, then please keep in mind that they no more represent ordinary scientists than Joy Behar of The View represents ordinary women.

379 posted on 02/26/2012 6:35:31 AM PST by exDemMom (Now that I've finally accepted that I'm living a bad hair life, I'm more at peace with the world.)
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