The following was spotted on an e-skeptic newsletter:
EDGE QUESTION OF THE YEAR: "WHAT'S YOUR LAW?" http://www.edge.org/q2004/q04_print.html If you are not already familiar with the Edge community of scientists, scholars, writers, and thinkers of all stripes, definitely check out the link above. This is John Brockman's stable of scientist authors whom he represents (including yours truly[Michael Shermer]), as well as others who participate in his annual "big question." This year's question is totally self-indulgent for us, but what the heck, it was great fun. John's instructions to us this year were: "There is some bit of wisdom, some rule of nature, some law-like pattern, either grand or small, that you've noticed in the universe that might as well be named after you. Gordon Moore has one; Johannes Kepler and Michael Faraday, too. So does Murphy. Since you are so bright, you probably have at least two you can articulate. Send me two laws based on your empirica l work and observations you would not mind having tagged with your name." You can read all of them at the link above, plus some of the editorial coverage they have already garnered. Since I don't believe in naming laws after oneself, and as the good book says, "the first shall be last and the last shall be first," mine is (as presented in Scientific American, January 2002): Shermer's Last Law: "Any sufficiently advanced extra-terrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God." Here are a few of my favorites from Edge: Susan Blackmore Blackmore's First Law People's desire to believe in the paranormal is stronger than all the evidence that it does not exist. Richard Dawkins Dawkins's Law of Adversarial Debate When two incompatible beliefs are advocated with equal intensity, the truth does not lie half way between them. John Maddox Maddox's Fir st Law Those who scorn the "publish or perish" principle are the most eager to see their own manuscripts published quickly and given wide publicity--and the least willing to see their length reduced. Maddox's Second Law Reviewers who are best placed to understand an author's work are the least likely to draw attention to its achievements, but are prolific sources of minor criticism, especially the identification of typos. Gregory Benford Benford's Modified Clarke Law Any technology that does not appear magical is insufficiently advanced. John Barrow Barrow's first 'law' Any Universe simple enough to be understood is too simple to produce a mind able to understand it. John Rennie Rennie's Law of Credibility Scientists don't always know best about matters of science-but they're more likely to be right than the critics who make that argument. < BR>2nd Corollary to the Law of Credibility Any iconoclast with a scientifically unorthodox view who reminds you that Galileo was persecuted too...ain't Galileo. Geoffrey Miller Miller's Law of Strange Behavior To understand any apparently baffling behavior by another human, ask: what status game is this individual playing, to show off which heritable traits, in which mating market? Martin Rees Rees's Law As cosmological theories advance, they will draw more concepts from biology. Paul Steinhardt Steinhardt's Law Good science creates two challenging puzzles for each puzzle it resolves. Robert Sapolsky Sapolsky's Three Laws for Doing Science Sapolsky's First Law Think logically, but orthogonally. Sapolsky's Second Law It's okay to think about nonsense, as long as you don't believe in it. Sapolsky's Third Law Often, the biggest impediment to scientific progress is not what we don't know, but what we know. Nancy Etcoff Etcoff's Law Be wary of scientific dualisms. For example: Brain vs Mind Mind vs Body Emotion vs Reason Nature vs Nurture Us vs Them Lee Smolin Smolin's First Law Genuine advances are rarely made by accident; in fact, the outcome of a scientific investigation is usually less dramatic than originally hoped for. Therefore, if you want to do something really significant in science, you must aim high and you must take genuine risks. Daniel Gilbert Gilbert' Law Happy people are those who do not pass up an opportunity to laugh at themselves or to make love with someone else. Unhappy people are those who get this backwards. |
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Received on Fri Jan 16 07:54:47 2004
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