Ahh, I'm getting sucked in and must escape...

But first one more thought/clarification:

I wasn't using "metaphysical" in some wishy-washy, supernatural sense
but in the sense of philosophical Metaphysics--the study of reality.
Some Rationalists will argue that the physical world isn't "real" and
therefore not part of any metaphysics, but for us Empiricists (or mostly
empiricist--there's a heavy dose of Pragmatism in me too), the
physical/empirical world is very much a part of our metaphysical theory
(our understanding of reality--what is real).

Science is about the study/understanding of the empirical/physical
world--of what is real in a scientist's mind; "science" is a
metaphysical philosophy. All people practice whatever metaphysical
theory they hold; they just don't always realize this (or they don't
really understand what they really believe). There is no disjoint
between science and metaphysics. Perhaps the disjoint is simply my
ability to properly convey in what sense I use a term and perhaps others
connotations of this or that term. ;~]

For what it's worth, I have a lot more faith (pun intended, once again)
in what science will accomplish. I think there is a lot now that we have
no idea of how to use science to explain, but one day it will. That's
because I think reality is scientifically explainable. This means that
ALL things are explainable by science; we just can't do it yet. There
are different natural phenomena that aren't naturally empirical to us
(differing waves of light for example) that we have learned to
empirically measure with instruments. Even though those phenomena aren't
technically empirical for humans, that doesn't mean they're not real
(part of the physical world). I imagine there are other things out there
waiting for our science to discover.

No more responses from me (you all and I both hope),

tim


-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Art Harris
Sent: Thursday, June 30, 2005 9:54 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MUSEUM-L] For those interested in evolution AND
Intelligent Design . . .

There still seems to be a lot of confusion about what science can and 
cannot do. Asking it to investigate the metaphysical (unless claims are 
made about the nature of the physical universe, and then limited to 
those claims) is asking it to do something it's not equipped to do. It's

a tool that only works with the physcial universe because of the very 
limitations that makes it very good in that role (one of these 
limitations being that it cannot invoke the supernatural).  Asking it to

study the metaphysical is much the same as asking religion to explicate 
the physical world--something religion has failed in miserably because 
that's not something it's designed nor equipped to do.

If at some time ID delivers testible hypotheses, I can assure you that 
scientists will start taking it seriously as other than a way to sneak 
religion into schools under the disguise of science.

If indeed aliens were involved in constructing complex features of life,

there still lies the question as to how do we recognize this. However, 
there are scientific possibilities here. If such aliens were present on 
earth, they may have left signs that someday may be uncovered. Perhaps 
aliens have left communications somewhere in the universe that someday 
we may encounter. If we eventually find other beings on other planets 
that share our DNA code, etc., this would indicate a common cause. There

probably are other possibilities. But current evidence strongly 
indicates that natural processes are sufficient to explain life on earth

as we know it. If, and only if, someone can come up with testible 
hypotheses to the contrary will ID be accepted as worthy of scientific 
investigation.

Cheers,

Art Harris

Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum
University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX  79968-0915
[log in to unmask]   http://museum.utep.edu/
http://museum.utep.edu/chih/chihdes.htm

Eric Johnson wrote:
..........
> 
> I'll go back to the question I posed above--is there room for a
serious 
> scientific study of the possibility of intelligent design in nature?  
> What if it should turn out to be the aliens that Art referred to in 
> another message, and not God at all?
> 
> Peace,
> 
> --Eric

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