And metaphysics, the extension of science in metaphysical ways, is not subject to empirical test.

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Imagine there were an empirical test that would determine the identity of the finest actor in the world.

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In an election fraught with ironies, here is one more: Al Gore , the putative inventor of the Internet, when faced with the perfect test of his belief in empirical solutions to the world's problems, immediately threw out objective, electro-mechanical vote counting in lieu of the most subjective of measurement schemes--teams of politically biased observers peering at increasingly mangled paper ballots.

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Maybe so, but empirical evidence seems to suggest that once the talented pass the New York test, in rising numbers they fly south to celebrate.

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