Monday we discussed something I called the “myth of the learn’d astronomer.” This myth - that by explaining something we somehow explain it away - reflects a thought process so utterly foreign it may as well be expressed in classical Greek.
As a challenge people were given the opportunity to explain what it is about da Vinci’s Mona Lisa the brilliant masterpiece that it is, without resorting to a reason and evidence based response. Stepping into the shoes of someone upset by what science finds is a difficult task, so oriented are we toward rejoicing sciences successes; for this reason rather than attempting to step into someone else’s shoes, I offer them my own as we explore the answer to Monday’s challenge.
Head over to OaklandSkeptic.com to hear just what makes Mona Lisa’s smile so brilliant.
Comments
What do you have against "scientility?" It's a single word that means everything you've spent two columns explaining. Seems like it would be much more economical to use the new word that Francois Choquette is trying to establish.
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