The story of Qin is a fascinating one.* We have an arrogance in
our day that is easy to miss.* I constantly find myself up
against my own bias in this regard:* Standardization in
production was not invented in the 19th Century by a Gun maker
and precision engineering does not require theories to be
functional. Qin standardized weapons manufacturing to a level of
precision hardly matched in the West for quite some time, in 200
BC (one can say BCE or CE; matters not what one picks as long as
the general time-frame is understood).* 2200 years ago. Was it
science?* Was there a hypothesis that was tested and validated
through repeated experiment?* Perhaps in a sense but I'd rather
classify it a feat of engineering.* Happenstance, trial and
error or science, when its engineering, it doesn't matter what
the heuristics are, as long as the Boss is happy with the
results. [having an Invisible Boss called TRUTH that won't
execute you for making a mistake allows the Scientific Method to
work quite well.* If you have a visible Boss with the ability to
send your family into the mines if you screw up... well, that
puts a strong time constraint on you: no time for Theory.* No
time for Truth.* Just get the job done, however you can] I'm not
discounting the scientific method; just a luxury once only
afforded to Religious Scholars, but once power got into the
hands of the non-Religious, the Academics were secularized and
Pure Science, R&D became possible through a different set of
exclusive circles. [those who could afford college tuition] In
an earlier time, Einstein might not have been studying Patents
as a Clerk (did one REALLY think he was daydreaming as he was
going through those patents?* Of course he was reading them; I
suspect it's how he broadened his thinking.* But the mythology
of Einstein is a strong one, and Einstein, as much as I love
him, knew well how to Spin the Media, the Brian Cox of his day,
who I also find absolutely adorable (in a "tell me a story,
uncle Brian" kind of way.* He makes me feel like a preschooler
being tucked in, being told fantastic tales of the Universe by a
favorite Uncle)... Anyway.. Einstein might have been in a
Monastic environment, studying within the social structures of
the day that afforded him the same kind of access to knowledge
and such.* A Thomas Aquinas as it were, or a St Gregory Palamas
from the Eastern Christian side. Everything I wrote could be
shortened into two sentences.* But I don't like editing my own
words.* Always seems to be a cruel affair, compressing away
tidbits like that.
