From: CHARLES DITTELL     
To: DRAGONFLY           
Subject: relig & logic??
Date & Time: 05/18/91 09:47:17
Message Number 16857

No, "proven wrong" is not when a counterexample is found.  Newton's
laws ARE correct (which is why they're still taught!) in local
timespace. There's nothing "wrong" with them in that context: 
Relativity just jumped to another context. It's much like saying
the temperature here is cool (I'm inside), while someone else says
"I just saw the weather report: the temperature is 93!")
Re "useful", I know you attempted to avoid absolutes, but useful as
a concept is still "absolute", in the sense that it is interpreted
to mean "absolutely of use"....in fact, "useful" is a poor choice of
concepts re theories, because it has the same problems as you find in
Newton's Laws: they are true, but only for particular contexts. Same
with "useful". And worse, "useful" is a subjective term (tho most
people don't use it that way). What is useful to one person (or one
theorist) is NOT useful to another. A theory does not have inherent
usefulness: people may attempt to find use for one, and in certain
circumstances may be useful (but in others may be destructive!)...
 ---Hmmm....am I being wordy and obfuscative?? I'm jes' waking up----