Yes, and the response here has been the same as elsewhere. It’s really quite fascinating to observe … for my general understanding is that this is a blog dedicated to design, and designers are generally familiar with how innovation works. So, it’s a bit perplexing to observe outright hostility to critical thinking in science. There is no sense here or elsewhere that there has been a debate about how to model plasmas for 40 years, and it is based upon the work on cosmic plasmas by a Nobel laureate who created the equations which astrophysicists use to this day to model cosmic plasmas.
My observations of the slashdot community led to surprises as well, for here was a community which had the technical savvy to easily comprehend what plasmas are – and yet the people there consistently refuse to engage the subject on its technical merits.
Cosmology and astrophysics are not like traditional empirical sciences. We are pushing the limits here of what science can do. It’s vital that people take care to carefully contemplate the concepts, critiques and philosophical guidelines. What is happening today online is actually anti-innovation. We need to build new systems for talking about science which actually encourage critical thinking and help people to refer to philosophical principles. I don’t just talk to the Electric Universe theorists; I also communicate with the Critical Thinking Institute and information architects, and I study the works of professional concept mappers and conceptual modelers.
But, would you care to elaborate on your own comment? Are you suggesting that we don’t need critical thinkers in science today?
