FOM: wider cultural significance: misuse of great advances

[Stephen G Simpson]

Harvey Friedman 26 Mar 1999 14:42:21 writes:

 > ... there can be a little foreward warning readers about various
 > misuses of great advances (e.g., relativity theory and Godel's
 > theorem and Heisenberg, etcetera) towards drawing unwarranted
 > conclusions.  ...

That sounds very appropriate.  But, why doesn't every elementary
physics and mathematical logic textbook contain such a warning?  I
think it is partly because the authors of such textbooks are afraid to
say anything that may invite controversy.  Thus they allow the
prestige of physics and f.o.m. to be misappropriated by unscrupulous
intellectuals.

-- Steve