steven l. rubenstein wrote:
The second comment has to do with credibility. I
agree 100% with
Jimbo's point that what makes Einstein's theories more credible than
aunt Gertie's is not crude popularity but that physicists give more
credence to Einstein's theories (about physics by the way -- Aunt
Gertrude may be more of an authority on needlepoint or, so as not to be
sexist, repairing a carburetor, than Einstein).
But this is exactly what I mean when I say it's a popularity contest. We
say Einstein is believed by most physicists. That's still a poularity
contest, just one amoung physicists rather than the general poulation.
We never take into account that there might only be one dissenter, but
that might be the best physicist in the world, and maybe he/she's right.
How can we tell though? We don't evaluate who's the best physicist when
making these decisions. Instead we just use the crude approximation of
how many support the idea. I don't know about anyone else, but I still
call that a measure based on popularity.
Shane.