tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7466544526845171847.post708521703141316065..comments2013-01-28T02:46:13.609-08:00Comments on Redonkulus Blog: Stephen Fry and Ironyredonkulus476http://www.blogger.com/profile/02196069493716013924noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7466544526845171847.post-12497689208708266222012-07-08T13:22:39.424-07:002012-07-08T13:22:39.424-07:00Just passing through to point out that Mr. Fry is ...Just passing through to point out that Mr. Fry is of course reading a script which is supposed to have been scrupulously fact checked by a team of researchers. However this is sometimes not the case and the extras on the DVD's have a section dedicated to retractions and corrections.<br /><br />JamesAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7466544526845171847.post-77610666696340401772011-07-17T23:16:30.757-07:002011-07-17T23:16:30.757-07:00Re: Aristotle and teeth, I've heard that claim...Re: Aristotle and teeth, I've heard that claim as well. I don't know the answer, but it sounds a bit too much like the quotation from The Princess Bride: "Have you heard of Plato, Aristotle, Socrates?...Morons." I think anyone who comes to that conclusion must have made a wrong turn somewhere.<br /><br />I agree that people were often quite unscientific before the 1600s or so. But one of my points is that modern man is often unscientific as well, even often the scientists.redonkulus476https://www.blogger.com/profile/02196069493716013924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7466544526845171847.post-56686926679420122132011-07-16T07:25:03.734-07:002011-07-16T07:25:03.734-07:00This is interesting. I agree with (b). (a) seems r...This is interesting. I agree with (b). (a) seems right too, though it's interesting that the problem is sometimes not too much deference to supposed experts in other fields, but not enough deference. E.g. someone like Hawking saying completely uninformed things about philosophy. <br /><br />While Aristotle did spend a lot of time doing what we might now call field biology, I think there are times in which he arguably wasn't empirical enough. (Though this was probably also true of pretty much everyone before the 'scientific revolution.') Bertrand Russell has a famous line that "Aristotle maintained that women have fewer teeth than men; although he was twice married, it never occurred to him to verify this statement by examining his wives' mouths." One wonders if this is right, or maybe the historians can tell us whether or not women might actually have had fewer teeth on average than men in Aristotle's day.Matthttp://theconsternationofphilosophy.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com