Ultimately, these postwar aristocratic fantasies were not at all successful in evading the modern scientific universe that they so despised. It is by no accident that both Jurgen and The Worm Ouroboros (a title that refers to the world-girdling serpent that bites its own tail) were circular in construction, ending just where they began, with nothing changed or accomplished by the passage of four hundred pages. These fantasies aimed to run away from the scientific universe, only to be thrown back into it by a kind of self-applied, self-defeating judo move.
Peña-isms.
Over the years I've used the quotes of others and a few nuggets of my own wisdom to better clarify Quantum Leap concepts. My proteges have come to call them "Peña-isms":
(…) 3. When you deal with the opinionated or egotistical, always give credit where it isn't due. (...)
17. Become more disciplined. The pain of discipline hurts less than the pain of regret. (…)
18. Hunger makes beasts of men, and demons of beasts. (…)
20. The business world is divided into people with great ideas, and people who take action on those ideas.
21. If you want things to change, first you have to change.
22. A man who dwells on his past, robs his future. (…)
33. A good plan executed today is better than a great plan executed next week. (…)
41. You always need a reason to overlook the obvious. (…)
47. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. Just because something has never been done doesn't mean it can't be done. The fact you have never seen or heard something is not proof that it doesn't exist. (…)
53. You don't have to know how you're going to get there. But you do need to know where you want to go.
54. If you have no destination, wherever you end up will be acceptable. (…)
61. Whoever said money can't buy you happiness doesn't know where to shop. (…)
66. You are paid in life not for what you know, but what you can do. Or get others to do.
67. Ideas are a dime a dozen. The person who puts them into action is priceless. (…)
72. Regret for the past is a waste of the spirit. (…)
78. The more self-esteem you give others, the more you have. And the more you have, the easier it is to give away.
79. Most successful people do it poorly until they do it well. Just keep blundering along. You can't wait until it's exactly right. The product of your quest for perfection is...
Sözü Habermas gibi kişilere bırakmak içime sinmiyorFelsefe
Habermas (1971) has argued that insofar as science is engaged in its own project (i.e., Kuhn's normal science), it cannot examine the social preconditions of its own existence. Rarely does it become possible for the scientist to step back, examine the social preconditions that have led to the construction of the mask of theory, and ask: Why have I interpreted the natural world the way I have? What elements of my culture made one interpretation obvious and believable, but not another? Habermas notes that asking these questions is a function of critical reflection, a type of thinking related to, but different from, science as such.
As cultures change it becomes possible for scientists to ask these questions, to be self-critical about our presuppositions. Recently, Western culture has shifted in striking ways. We live in times characterized by critical self-examination. Our cultural matrix has us ask "What does this say about us; what would future generations think of this?" with the same rapidity as the Greek shepherd might have asked, "What is this an omen of; what do the gods mean by this?" Living in a time of critical self-examination offers working scientists a window of opportunity, a chance to see how some previously invisible biases have affected the construction of one mask of theory and weakened our view of the face of nature. Competetive individualism is one such bias. Gender bias is another.
