I think Karl Popper will be spinning his grave if he knew Davis was using his name to support the bullshit he propogates.
I've seen this line of argument a lot lately. Mr. X would be spinning in his grave if he knew Mr. Y was using his name to support the bullshit he propogates - as if such a thing matters. Experience enlightens me to the fact that this line of argument is not used when it is in actuality true, but when its purporter has no idea what Mr. X in actuality said. To him it is enough to assume that everybody thinks like himself, and thus an intelligent man like Mr. X must agree.
The views I lean on from Popper are in actuality those that have little to do with his methodological falsification. This should be obvious as Feyerabend is a critic of Popper. Karl Popper has written volumes on other topics, and in particular I'm weighing in on his views concerning intolerance of ideas. While Popper may disagree that the Earth is flat, I do not have to guess if he would be turning in his grave given my views on tolerance towards such a view. I have asked him in way of his literature, and he has been more than clear on the subject.
It should be noted that while I was not weighing on his method or falsification - as Poppers method has several issues that can't be rectified. If you'd like to look at the flat view of things from a Popperian sense its not hard; others have looked at the Flat Earth in a Popperian sense which may serve as a jumping board for you. Here is an interesting treatment on the Flat Earth through a Popper lens done by a clever person at Northwestern. It also, when read backwards, shows us the flaw in the dogmatic roundist positivist view.
http://www.personalityresearch.org/metatheory/flatearth.htmlAlways when I think I've seen and heard it all, mr. Davis appears to show me wrong:
My goal is not to replace one set of facts by another; it is to convince folks that all sets, even the most ridiculous, have their limits and areas of application. As such, I am not presenting falsehoods - for such a thing is not possible
This sure is one of the dumbest statements I have ever heard.
In general, I would not think you've seen or heard it all in any case. This is the definition of ignorance - not lack of knowledge but instead lack of want for knowledge. By definition - it is your statements that exemplify the 'dumbest statements' that any of us have ever heard as they by their very nature reject knowledge.
I believe the Earth is flat, and do so with every ounce of my being. On the other hand, I can see the areas of applicability for the round earth model - that myth has served us well over the years. I am also prepared to be wrong, either on the point of the flat earth or on the point of any particular model within its framework. This is a necessity when you are the foremost flat earth theorist in the world.
More than this, to partake in reasoned discussion one must share the single view of the possibility of being wrong. It is my intention that very few round earthers that come here are actually interested in the reasoned discussion they purportedly desire; they are ruled out from this at the get go as they are simply not prepared to be incorrect.
I have simply described the view of relativism. You may disagree with it, but you have done little to defend such disagreement. If you need help, you can look to
Against Relativism which provides a good enough walk through the garden of defending method..
My goal is not to replace one set of facts by another; it is to convince folks that all sets, even the most ridiculous, have their limits and areas of application. As such, I am not presenting falsehoods - for such a thing is not possible. All I am presenting are the evidences given towards various frameworks, each which have their own merits and pitfalls. In this way, I stand with Fort, Popper, and Feyerabend and with a society that is open and against tyranny of thought and belief.
In short you are saying that anyone can call you (not personally you) liar, child abuser or whatever he/she wants and this is not falsehood. Because someone saw you glance in some direction it can be presented as evidence. Because you said some word and even when its taken totally out of context it still can be presented as evidence for something else. There are no facts, everything is evidence for everything and personal experience trumps every other observation.
I really don't get the point for evidence at all. Because like you present it it is always only evidence for specific situation in specific conditions. Its like the story with blind people and elephant. Every person touches different part and refuses to touch any other part for additional information. And as someone lets go and moment passes there is no evidence at all any more. So in conclusion there is no evidence at all for anything else but for the current moment where you are. Because if anything changes then there is evidence for a new thing but old evidence has lost its value and you can't call it evidence anymore.
Such a false statement (that one is a liar, child abuser, or other miscreant) has its limits and areas of applicability. Its limits and areas of applicability are likely much smaller than this if it doesn't fit with evidence, reality, and a coherent framework. The point of evidence is to give the
rough architectural constraints by which we build our frameworks. I say rough, as no framework will ever encompass all evidence - this can be clear in a practical sense by the work of Fort or in a theoretical sense by looking at Godel or Turings work with Cantor's slash.
Such a man, if he presumably is saying this as a lie, instead relies on his personal views and faith rather than having a worldview that is not built upon eggshells. It is a matter of fact that a person can call me a liar, and that said false knowledge can also lead him to more legitimate knowledge than this.
A lie claiming I am guilty of some crime I am not has no framework aside from that created to serve its own end to frame me. These purposeful mistruths are not what I'm talking about. Yet, it is true that the line between theory and evidences is a blurry one. Another man might take one of these mistruths though, and be able to use it to much end. It might even be impossible to discern the two using knowledge about how we know anything. The above are not 'purposeful' lies, and each evidence fits within their framework coherently enough and have been verified by independent observers. This is evidenced by the fact that you can find the majority of these within and across the available literature concerning each of their respective frameworks.
Now, to address the elephant in the room - yes some statements are so ridiculous that finding a framework that would make them take on trueness would also be finding a framework with an area of applicability that approaches none. You are examining what is known as an edge case. Is it possible to create useless evidences with frameworks that have no applicability? Perhaps - but that is not what is happening here.