RE: virus: Empiricism

Joe E. Dees (joedees@bellsouth.net)
Tue, 29 Jun 1999 13:07:04 -0500

From:           	"Richard Brodie" <richard@brodietech.com>
To:             	<virus@lucifer.com>
Subject:        	RE: virus: Empiricism
Date sent:      	Tue, 29 Jun 1999 07:05:47 -0700
Send reply to:  	virus@lucifer.com

> Joe wrote:
>
> <<yes, it IS empirically true that if a majority of
> Virions identify themselves as empiricist, that a majority are,
> unless they are lying).>>
>
> Can anyone think of five other explanations for why the result of such a
> poll would not reveal the "truth"?
>
> I remember a spoof of "USA Today" that the Harvard Lampoon put out shortly
> after the paper's debut. On the front page, in a characteristic cartoony
> inset box, was a bar chart with the headline: "Lead heaviest element, poll
> shows!"
>
Empirically minded people, like Baptists and Nazis, are those who say they are; what we are measuring is peoples' self-conceptions, not physical facts such as the relative specific gravities of the elements (this is best done using weight scales and volume measurements, with a little math thrown in). Scientifically measuring specific gravity is entirely different from quizzing people who don't know about osmium concerning the heaviness of lead.
>
> Richard Brodie richard@brodietech.com
> Author, "Virus of the Mind: The New Science of the Meme"
> Free newsletter! http://www.brodietech.com/rbrodie/meme.htm
>
>