Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id TAA04897 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Wed, 17 May 2000 19:22:12 +0100 From: Robin Faichney <robin@faichney.demon.co.uk> Organization: Reborn Technology To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk Subject: Re: A response Date: Wed, 17 May 2000 19:03:12 +0100 X-Mailer: KMail [version 1.0.21] Content-Type: text/plain References: <39228EB1.68944710@mediaone.net> Message-Id: <00051719070003.00526@faichney> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
On Wed, 17 May 2000, Chuck Palson wrote:
>Robin Faichney wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 16 May 2000, Vincent Campbell wrote:
>> >...why did the Incas continue to devestate essential resources for
>> >decorative purposes, assuming at some point they would have recognised this?
>>
>> Same reason we currently exploit natural resources as if we couldn't see
>> beyond the tip of our collective metaphorical nose: these are all "failed
>> experiments", so don't count! :-)
>
>Just in case you are serious, they DO count. Science learns all the time by its
>failed experiments. It is interesting, though, that in spite of the fact that
>much is learned, there is no journal of failed experiments. There should be,
>though.
I was referring to your "get-out clause", whereby useless behaviour is classed
as a failed experiment. But as I just wrote in another message, I'm not arguing
about that anymore!
Experiments are something else. Strictly speaking there's no such thing as a
failed one, unless it was actually badly designed or carried out, so that
nothing could be learned from it. And as long as that's *not* the case, i.e.
as long as something can actually be learned, you'll find in fact that journals
carry them all the time.
-- Robin Faichney===============================This was distributed via the memetics list associated with the Journal of Memetics - Evolutionary Models of Information Transmission For information about the journal and the list (e.g. unsubscribing) see: http://www.cpm.mmu.ac.uk/jom-emit
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