Klarinet Archive - Posting 000414.txt from 1994/10

From: "Dan Leeson: LEESON@-----.EDU>
Subj: Dogma
Date: Sat, 29 Oct 1994 14:56:40 -0400

It has always been unfair that dogma has a position of incumbency. But it
is also true that responsible and accurate positions on phenomena have that
posture as well.

There was a famous case of dogma which asserted that man's hipbone was flared
like that of an ox. This was establed by the Greek physician Galen who was not
permitted dissection of a human corpse, so he dissected an ox, found its
hipbone flared, and then concluded that the human's hipbone must be the same.

That view lasted for more than 1,000 years! Those who put forward any argument
to the contrary were not permitted to prove their point for it would have
required a human dissection which was impermissible.

As the phrase "It's good to be the king" was uttered in The History of the
World, Part I,"its equivalent, "It's good to have dogma on your side" is
equally brainless. But it does, from time to time, allow truth to remain
entrenched when fads and fancies try to overthrow it without proof.

It all evens out. What goes around comes around. A rolling stone gathers no
moss. The cliche festival starts Tuesday.

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Dan Leeson, Los Altos, California
(leeson@-----.edu)
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