Friday, November 21, 2003

Scientology Logic 12

Logic 12 - The value of a datum or a field of data is modified by the viewpoint of the observer.

To a hunter a rifle is good, to a duck a rifle sucks.

When a new idea is first put forth, no matter how true or obvious it may seem, it's originator is usually vilified by his peers and others because their viewpoint is so fixed. When Copernicus had the nerve to suggest that the Earth revolved around the Sun, his theory was attacked as heresy and at one point his book was withdrawn from circulation by the Inquisition so it could be censored. When Galileo had the gall to not only forward these outlandish ideas but even claim to be able to prove them by observation the Catholic Church (after forcing him to recant his claims) put him under lifelong house arrest.

From the viewpoint of the Church "observers" the data was not, as Copernicus and Galileo saw it, something that could assist the survival of mankind but heresy that would condemn mankind to eternal damnation (i.e., it inhibited survival), which was a complete reversal of the value of the data.

See "Galileo - Church controversy" for an idea of just how "impossible" the theory was from their fixed viewpoint.

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