“where critical evaluation of orthodoxy has been most encouraged..”

The Guardian’s Science Weekly podcast, also noted here, plays out with a fun tune on Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle [Really?! – ed] but not before philosopher A C Grayling has his say in this week’s Thought for the Pod [19mins in] – text available here – Grayling previous defence of rational argument is worth re-reading. From the pod-thought

But chief among those skills is that of critical evaluation of the claims, assertions, suppositions, beliefs and arguments that shape the lives of individuals and countries both.

As it happens, most people in history have lived, and indeed most people in the world today still live, in societies or cultures which actively oppose critical evaluation of the beliefs on which they base themselves, in some cases even threatening to kill people who dare to question the orthodoxies. Yet the most advanced and successful societies, in point of technological and social development and economic power, are precisely those where critical evaluation of orthodoxy has been most encouraged.

Meanwhile, as another Professor says, “ACTUALLY, I JUST ENJOY WASTING THE TIME of people who struggle to read my mind.” Although, I wouldn’t necessarily say ‘enjoy’.. but it is a waste of time.

Pete Baker