Orwell: Settingling the Screw Steamer Controversy
>No humanities course just takes every argument at face value. Every argument is subject to intense scrutiny
Here is Orwell on the matter:
>”When the nautical screw was first invented, there was a controversy that lasted for years as to whether screw-steamers or paddle-steamers were better. The paddle-steamers, like all obsolete things, had their champions, who supported them by ingenious arguments. Finally, however, a distinguished admiral tied a screw-steamer and a paddle-steamer of equal horsepower stern to stern and set their engines running. That settled the question once and for all.”[1]
Feynman:
>”It doesn’t matter how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong.”
People lived for a very long time without a proper appreciation of controlled, repeatable experiments, and progress was very slow.
1 – www.orwell.ru/library/essays/lion/english/e_saw