[Avodah] Heseibah, Halachah and Science

[Micha Berger]

On Wed, May 01, 2019 at 07:34:39AM -0400, Akiva Miller via Avodah wrote:
:> First find the line between superstition and discarded scientific theory.
...
: No, that's not "the" real question. It's just one of several questions...

To me it is "the real question". Because if, as you write:
: I suspect that the answer to all of these is flexible with the time and
: culture of whoever is asking...

Then the question is not whether a given danger is supersition or not,
but what kind of reasoning is used to declare heseibah on the left
or meat and fish or sheidim or stepping on nail clippings or... to be
dangerous. It isn't belief in supersitious dangers that is assur, as
that's not a definable set. Rather, it's superstitious thinking leading
one to conclude something is dangerous or propitious that would be the
topic of issur.

It's like assments of chi and reiki. Ch'i / Qi could be viewed as a
mataphysical kishuf thing. Or it could be viewed as a scientific theory
(accurate or not aside), not different in kind than fields in contemporary
western science.

Tir'u baTov!
-Micha

-- 
Micha Berger             Today is the 11th day, which is
micha at aishdas.org        1 week and 4 days in/toward the omer.
http://www.aishdas.org   Netzach sheb'Gevurah: What is imposing about
Fax: (270) 514-1507                            strict justice?