[Taxacom] Biodiversity questions: Classifications

[Ashley Nicholas]

I disagree with this what is being said here. Only objects/forces/phenomena that can be experimented on or objectively observed really exist. Anything we abstract fro this through the collection of data/information is a concept or a hypothesis and not real. A flash about the benzene ring must have come from empirically collected data. Taxonomy cannot be exempt from this process if it is then it is not empirical science it is guessing!

Ashley
________________________________________
From: taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu [taxacom-bounces at mailman.nhm.ku.edu] on behalf of Fred Schueler [bckcdb at istar.ca]
Sent: 05 October 2013 03:48
Cc: taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
Subject: Re: [Taxacom] Biodiversity questions: Classifications

On 10/4/2013 10:26 AM, Dan Lahr wrote:
> Ha, I was not aware that he acknowledged that.

* well, not in those words - but he certainly acknowledged that a
falsifiable hypothesis could come from anywhere - and "anywhere"
includes baconian induction. In a sense, any hypothesis arises as an
idea about existing data, whether it comes as a flash about a benzene
ring, or only after poring over decades of correlation between weather
data and road-crossing dates.

fred.
===============================================
>
> So it is in fact the wide *perception* of popperian science that defines
> science as only the last part of that sentence, not Popper himself...
>
> thanks for pointing it out FRed.
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 4, 2013 at 10:09 AM, Fred Schueler <bckcdb at istar.ca
> <mailto:bckcdb at istar.ca>> wrote:
>
>     On 10/4/2013 9:00 AM, Dan Lahr wrote:
>
>      > Incidently, I tend think that applying the popperian definition
>     of science
>      > to taxonomy, as you have indicated, is a bit of trying to fit a
>     square peg
>      > in a round hole.  Popper's definition is too restrictive: exploratory
>      > science is also part of science!  HOw would we come to hypothesis
>     if we
>      > don't know what objects can be hypothesizable subjects?
>
>     * an interesting point - the popperian hypothesis is that "it will be
>     only through exploratory data collection and baconian induction that it
>     will be possible to form a falsifiable hypothesis about this subject."
>     In my experience, this hypothesis is often corroborated.
>
>     fred.
>     ------------------------------------------------------------
>                Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
>     Bishops Mills Natural History Centre - http://pinicola.ca/bmnhc.htm
>     Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills - http://pinicola.ca/mudpup1.htm
>     Daily Paintings - http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/
>                RR#2 Bishops Mills, Ontario, Canada K0G 1T0
>         on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44* 52'N 75* 42'W
>     (613)258-3107 <tel:%28613%29258-3107> <bckcdb at istar.ca
>     <http://istar.ca>> http://pinicola.ca/
>     ------------------------------------------------------------
>
>     _______________________________________________
>     Taxacom Mailing List
>     Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu <mailto:Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu>
>     http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/mailman/listinfo/taxacom
>
>     The Taxacom Archive back to 1992 may be searched with either of
>     these methods:
>
>     (1) by visiting http://taxacom.markmail.org
>
>     (2) a Google search specified as:
>       site:mailman.nhm.ku.edu/pipermail/taxacom
>     <http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/pipermail/taxacom>  your search terms here
>
>     Celebrating 26 years of Taxacom in 2013.
>
>
>
>
> --
> ___________________
> Daniel J. G. Lahr, PhD
> Assist. Prof., Dept of Zoology,
> Univ. of Sao Paulo, Brazil
> + 55 (11) 3091 0948


--
------------------------------------------------------------
          Frederick W. Schueler & Aleta Karstad
Bishops Mills Natural History Centre - http://pinicola.ca/bmnhc.htm
Mudpuppy Night in Oxford Mills - http://pinicola.ca/mudpup1.htm
Daily Paintings - http://karstaddailypaintings.blogspot.com/
          RR#2 Bishops Mills, Ontario, Canada K0G 1T0
   on the Smiths Falls Limestone Plain 44* 52'N 75* 42'W
    (613)258-3107 <bckcdb at istar.ca> http://pinicola.ca/
------------------------------------------------------------

_______________________________________________
Taxacom Mailing List
Taxacom at mailman.nhm.ku.edu
http://mailman.nhm.ku.edu/mailman/listinfo/taxacom

The Taxacom Archive back to 1992 may be searched with either of these methods:

(1) by visiting http://taxacom.markmail.org

(2) a Google search specified as:  site:mailman.nhm.ku.edu/pipermail/taxacom  your search terms here

Celebrating 26 years of Taxacom in 2013.