---

 

get this Mike Berger, PhD writing in the cc&d free 2011 PDF file chapbook: Science: A Curmudgeon’s View (click on the front cover image or the title text to download the free PDF file)				You can also order this as a 2011 6" x 9" perfect-bound paperback ISBN# book! Click on the cover spread for the book Ghost

Reductionism

Mike Berger, PhD

Scientists trying to understand how things work.
They do so by breaking things down into smaller
pieces till they think they understand. To know
why salt bites the tongue, they break salt down
into its constituent parts. Understanding that the
chemical bond between sodium and chlorine
make salt, doesn’t answer the question, why
it bites the tongue..

Understanding the chemical valence of both
sodium and chlorine doesn’t give us a clue.
That scenario is just the tip of the iceberg.
Elements are made of molecules, and
molecules are made of atoms. Atoms are
made up of protons, electrons, and neutrons.
Those in turn are made up of quarks. Quarks in
turn made up of vibrating one-dimensional strings.
The question arises, what are strings made of;
and so it goes. For all of that, we have no idea
why salt taste as it does.

Is reductionism just a fools paradise? How
do you break the insights of a poet into its
constituent parts? And furthermore, why
would you want to do so?

Copyright of written pieces remain with the author, who has allowed it to be shown through Scars Publications and Design.Web site © Scars Publications and Design. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without express permission from the author.

Problems with this page? Then deal with it...