[FoRK] Faith and/or Science - Newton et al

[Lion Kimbro]

  What if that "garbage" was a crucial part of who
  he was, and part of the motivations that led him to
  the "non-garbage" stuff?

  You seem to want to treat him robotically, like a
  science-making machine.  I'm not sure he was
  just "a brilliant mind;"  Maybe he was a normal mind,
  that was feeling inspired?  And by that inspiration,
  went on to do great things.

  Perhaps if he was born today, he would have just
  languished.  He'd write something to FoRK, and everyone
  would tell him, "You stupid idiot;  Stop imagining things.
  Get scientific.  Now produce us some formulas!"

  He might not have come up with anything at all,
  in this environment, garbage or otherwise.



On Nov 28, 2007 2:04 PM, Jeff Bone <jbone at place.org> wrote:
> BTW, it's worth expanding on this point a bit.  By accounts Newton
> penned in excess of a *million words* on alchemical topics, far more
> work product than was devoted to his retroactively so-called
> "scientific" works.  Indeed he was, and must be understood as, first
> and foremost an "alchemist."  This is a tragedy.  Newton was clearly
> one of the brightest minds humanity has thus far produced;  yet for
> lack of a fully developed epistemological framework (i.e., the
> scientific method) and blighted by non-rational, super-natural,
> superstitious, quasi-physical beliefs, the man managed to waste most
> of his productive career on "garbage."