Dear Marion,

Thank you very much for your letter. I'm much appreciative of
your thoughtful analysis of theories and their validation. I'm
often acutely aware of and embarrassed by my lack of specific
knowledge and experience. In the wake of the discussion about
fact vs. theory, I'm much impressed by the etymology of the word
fact from the Latin factum, deed, powerfully corroborated as it 
is by the German word for fact: Tatsache (deed-matter). I conclude
that my action - what I do, was ich tue, is the most compelling
and accessible expression of subjectivity, a phenomenon which
proves ultimately to be impermeable to any theory or to any verbal
description.  I am reminded, in this context of Goethe having
Faust translate the opening verse of the Gospel of St. John,
"In the beginning was the word" (where in the original, "word" is
"logos") with "Im Anfang war die Tat", explicitly assigning
primacy to action (fact) rather than to words (concepts, theories),
perhaps corroborating Kierkegaard's assertion that subjectivity
(action?) is truth.  I admit that with my analysis I may be
carrying semantics too far.

Thank you also for sending the article about human stem cells
modified to develop into retinal pigment epithelial cells and
injected into human patients with macular disease. Reading and
rereading this article makes me feel both ignorant and humble.
Such bold experimentation is obviously vulnerable to criticism
from many perspectives; but what came most immediately to my mind
was the need to avoid the stance of Goethe's Mephistopheles who
characterized himself with the words: "Ich bin der Geist der
stets verneint." Maybe I should put aside the irresponsible writing
in which I indulge, to try to become familiar with, and even
proficient in the complex technology involved to be able to form my
own constructive opinions, even though I would have no opportunity
to implement or to apply them. 

Meanwhile, I will try to proceed with what I have been doing, 
my writing, as best I can.

Good night.
Jochen