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From: dubois@uwmacc.UUCP (Paul DuBois)
Newsgroups: net.origins
Subject: Rules question
Message-ID: <325@uwmacc.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Sep-84 16:42:50 EDT
Article-I.D.: uwmacc.325
Posted: Thu Sep 20 16:42:50 1984
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Sep-84 03:32:10 EDT
Organization: UW Primate Center
Lines: 44


> [Michael Ward]
> I notice that you very cleverly do not bother trying to attack the rest
> of my posting: that two people cannot set the ground rules for a net
> discussion.  Does that mean that you agree with me on this point?

Hardly clever.  But I notice that while you're disputing who
can set rules and such, that you haven't said what rules you
want?  Or have I just (stupidly) missed them?

> You want to postulate that some Creator started the whole thing.  I
> have two questions:
> 1) Do you have any evidence to support such a hypothosis?
> 
> 2) Are we talking about a Creator doing His Thing 10,000 years ago, or
>    15 Billion years ago?  Again, do you have evidence?

This is silly.  One doesn't "prove" one's basic assumption.
One assumes something (anything!), for the sake of argument,
and then tries to determine what one might expect to find
on the basis of that assumption.  Then one examines the
evidence and determines whether or not what one does in fact
find is consistent with the basic assumption.  If not, you
evaluate your assumptions.

Alternatively, one looks at the evidence first, then formulates
an hypothesis consistent with that evidence (the hypothesis
will, however, be somewhat a function of (perhaps implicit)
basis assumptions), then uses the hypothesis to make predictions,
tests the predictions and based on the outcome, reevaluates the
hypothesis.
---
A semantic point:
If anyone is looking for a model "of creation", I (like many of
you) don't see how that can be done.  What CAN be done is make
predictions about what ought to be found IF physical reality
has a creative origin (in particular, a creative origin of a
non-evolutionary nature).
-- 
Paul DuBois		{allegra,ihnp4,seismo}!uwvax!uwmacc!dubois

"Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein
do I delight."
				Psalm 119:35