Linux Science

Is knowledge knowable?  If not, how do we know that?

Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction
listen to weather forecasts and economists?
                -- Kelvin Throop III

Isn't it strange that the same people that laugh at gypsy fortune
tellers take economists seriously?

"It could be that Walter's horse has wings" does not imply that there is
any such animal as Walter's horse, only that there could be; but "Walter's
horse is a thing which could have wings" does imply Walter's horse's
existence.  But the conjunction "Walter's horse exists, and it could be
that Walter's horse has wings" still does not imply "Walter's horse is a
thing that could have wings", for perhaps it can only be that Walter's
horse has wings by Walter having a different horse.  Nor does "Walter's
horse is a thing which could have wings" conversely imply "It could be that
Walter's horse has wings"; for it might be that Walter's horse could only
have wings by not being Walter's horse.

I would deny, though, that the formula [Necessarily if some x has property P
then some x has property P] expresses a logical law, since P(x) could stand
for, let us say "x is a better logician than I am", and the statement "It is
necessary that if someone is a better logician than I am then someone is a
better logician than I am" is false because there need not have been any me.
                -- A.N. Prior, "Time and Modality"

It has just been discovered that research causes cancer in rats.

It is contrary to reasoning to say that there is a vacuum or space in
which there is absolutely nothing.
                -- Descartes

It is impossible to travel faster than light, and certainly not desirable,
as one's hat keeps blowing off.
                -- Woody Allen

It is much easier to suggest solutions when you know nothing about the problem.

It is not every question that deserves an answer.
                -- Publilius Syrus

It is not for me to attempt to fathom the inscrutable workings of Providence.
                -- The Earl of Birkenhead