Is science the only way to knowledge?

[Creed of Heresy]

Dramatic much?

Always.

Let me give you an example, Creed. Several months ago as I was listening to the local classical music station, Smetana's Die Moldau came on. I have avoided this piece for years, because it was the favorite piece of music of a very good friend who died some years ago, and hearing it has always made me cry and miss him and feel bad. But this time, I sat down and listened, and let it do what good music does. I totally lost myself in it. I just let it wash over me. And when it was over, I realized I had learned something without thinking about it consciously- that I am getting over my friend's death. It was something I didn't know before the piece, and I knew it after. It was knowledge acquired.

Now, you can try to contort my experience to fit some definition of scientific exploration if you wish because you don't like the fact that Vinny asked this question, but it doesn't change my experience.

Just because Vinnie The Amazing Obfuscationist asked the question didn't annoy me, it was the fact it was annoyingly vague that...well, annoyed me.

Now, while that is poignant, and believe me when I say I am very, very glad you are getting over your friend's death (not something easy to do), it still doesn't change the fact that this is technically science. You did not know you were getting over it before, but then you realized you were after you had finished listening to the symphony. This, too, is a form of science, albeit unknowingly so. You didn't KNOW you were testing yourself, but in a sense you were. You avoided the song because it used to remind you of your friend, but when it came on this time, you tested yourself to listen through it. The end result is the knowledge that you were getting over it. This is, by definition, science. Doesn't mean it's any less poignant.