From: Ben Goertzel (ben@goertzel.org)
Date: Wed Jun 07 2006 - 10:00:00 MDT
> Einstein's general theory of relativity is the *only* case I can think
> of for non-experiment-driven revolutionary science. Which is why I
> sometimes use the analogy: "Imagine that you had to develop a complex
> application of general relativity before anyone anywhere developed a
> simple application of special relativity. Don't ask whether that would
> be easy or convenient, because obviously it wouldn't be. But if the
> life of the entire human species depended on it, could it be done?"
Given the actual nature of human intelligence, I think it is very
unlikely that it could be done on a timeframe of less than
centuries... if at all...
The way our brains are built, we are a lot better at theorizing in the
context of experimental results than in a purely conceptual way...
Even in pure mathematics, we are better at theorizing after we've
worked out a bunch of particular examples in detail...
-- Ben
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