On Thu, 25 Oct 2007, Harry Veeder wrote: > You don't care about the earth ground, if you have already made up your mind > that a conventional explanation is good enough.
Now hold on right there. All of us on vortex are SUPPOSED to assume that it's a conventional effect. If we did not, then we'd become true crackpots: the kind who are so in love with Weird Discoveries that we stop questioning our own assumptions, stop critiquing our own work, and become hostile and defensive if anyone else dares point out its flaws. We're all very human, and it's far too easy to fall into a huge ego trap. This is the "inventors disease" where we decide that we've made a great discovery which will bring fame and fortune. And then we start ignoring all evidence that our discovery is odd but conventional. To avoid this "ego-inflation disease," we simply have to be ruthlessly self-critical. (And that's what separates science from all other diciplines: we carefully criticize our own ideas, as opposed to defending them from all attack.) True skepticism is the way to go, and it's all about self-criticism. In other words, assume that your "great discovery" is actually something conventional, and then investigate it very carefully to see if this is actually the case. The goal is to avoid self-delusion by puncturing the egoistic fantasies of fame and fortune. It's the only way to see the outside world with any accuracy. (((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) ))))))))))))))))))) William J. Beaty SCIENCE HOBBYIST website billb at amasci com http://amasci.com EE/programmer/sci-exhibits amateur science, hobby projects, sci fair Seattle, WA 425-222-5066 unusual phenomena, tesla coils, weird sci
