Yes, Virginia

[Diana York Blaine]

Critiquing the "hard" sciences is not the same thing as saying we cannot
manipulate nature (whatever you mean by that term--perhaps a discussion of
the famous nature/culture dichotomy could be interesting with this group).
But to ask intuitively is not the same thing, IMHO, as saying "CAN we
split the atom?" The intuitive question could be, SHOULD we?  Y'all are
re-reading Gravity's Rainbow, for crying out loud. Isn't this an issue?
Before they can manifest vast environmental changes some Native American
tribes hold a "Children's Circle" in which they must sit down and ask each
other, how will this affect the children and (hence) the future?
Intuitive thinking?  Sure.  A boon for progress? Not. Isn't one of
Pynchon's favorite themes the effect of multi-national corporate
capitalism on all aspects of culture, including science?  Can we really be
sure there's such a thing as "pure" science, in other words, when the
first question asked is often "who will reimburse my research?"  Diana