Thread:User talk:WaitingforGodot/Shameless self-promotion/reply (39)

Well, it makes a huge difference in philosophy and science in general. Are our definitions even useful? Many of the most insidious pseudosciences rely on poor definitions for their existence. What is "intelligence"? Is there a "general intelligence" ("g")? Do IQ tests measure this g? This abstract, high-falutin' debate definitely had an effect (a very negative one) on ethnic minorities in Western nations. Much time and intellectual energy is wasted on Wittgensteinian pseudo-debates, such as "nature vs. nurture" (see, e.g., Evelyn Fox-Keller's semantic takedown of this). Asking the right question is often more important than finding the "right" answer. That was the whole point of the "42" joke in Hitchhiker's Guide -- a nonsensical question gets a nonsensical answer.