[lit-ideas] Re: Sherlock Holmes on knowledge of the solar system
- From: Donal McEvoy <donalmcevoyuk@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 2 Jul 2008 07:03:48 +0000 (GMT)
--- On Wed, 2/7/08, Andreas Ramos <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> From: Andreas Ramos <andreas@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> > "One can indeed deduce that the sun doesn't go
> around the earth.
We can test the a theoretical framework within which one of its parts is that
the sun is centre of a solar system; but we cannot deduce or induce this
framework or this part of it from observation. [Popper et al, et passim].
> As I pointed out for Holmes's concerns, if the earth
> was at the center of
> the solar system, it'd have to be large enough to
> anchor the planets.
The idea that there must be an anchor in the system is not itself something we
observe, any more than we can observe gravity rather than observe what we
hypothesis are the effects of gravity. In terms of observation, and without a
theoretical framework with ideas of gravity etc, it would from planet A
observing planet B look the same whether B or A (or both) was moving (compare:
it would look the same if the station was moving and not the train, or vice
versa, given the observer's position).
Third, and most important to place Holme's comments in context, it must be
borne in mind that he had a very sore elbow at the time due to excessive
violining and was doing a lot of coke, so he was not at his best in this
exchange being in quite some pain and with a cocaine come-down to deal with
into the bargain. The heliocentric system could go suck his oranges in these
circumstances.
Donal
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