pulling myself out of a vortex

After getting sucked into the vortex of a blog comment discussion and its sub-discussion about how many "hard scientists" are conservative, I must say this:

There is no causal relationship between working in physical science, math, computer science, or other logic-based field (or having the intellectual talents that these fields require) and holding certain political beliefs. One of the most important lessons I carry with me from my semester of Formal Logic is that logic alone is not a sure path to any truth. Unfortunately, it's possible for a perfectly logical statement to be complete bs. It's a funky, messy world, especially the human parts than must interact with other humans. Smart people disagree with each other.

All this gives me another opportunity to say that style and taste--while not without meaning--are not connected to specific philosophical beliefs. No no no no no no.

There, I feel much better now.