Jouni Valkonen wrote:
On Aug 25, 2011 5:45 PM, "Mattia Rizzi" wrote:
> In krivit’s video Rossi said that water flow was 7 kg/h.
> Rossi is lying.
>
This is obvious. But question is why Rossi did lie in such a trivial
way that everyone can see it?
I do not find it so obvious. It seems likely to me that Rossi was
confused, mistaken or careless, or perhaps that Rizzi has made a mistake
and the flow really was what Rossi quoted. I cannot think of any reason
why Rossi would lie about this, or any advantage that would accrue to
him. On the other hand I know he is often careless, and he constantly
says things that are contradictory, as you see in the list I compiled here:
http://www.peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Andrea_A._Rossi_Cold_Fusion_Generator:Rossi%27s_Hints
If he was lying about these contradictory statements, he would erase his
old blog messages and other proof that he contradicted himself. He would
take care not to claim that he has a PhD from a non-existent university,
and an adviser at a university who is not listed at that university. He
would cover his tracks, and try not to look like a flagrant liar. I do
not think Rossi cares about the public record. He doesn't care about
what he said before, or the fact that he contradicted himself. He has
Walt Whitman's point of view:
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume . . .
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)
I would not call this "lying." I would call it free-form thinking aloud,
or letting your imagination get away with you. Many famous and creative
people do this. They do it constantly. They infuriate their friends,
investors and employees. Famous examples of people who frequently made
bombastic claims and contradicted themselves from one day to the next
include Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs. Here is an example from Jobs in
his 2005 commencement address at Stanford U. He described how he learned
calligraphy in college, and from that he says:
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life.But
ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it
all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the
first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on
that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple
typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied
the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had
never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy
class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography
that they do.
http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html
If Jobs seriously believes that without him there would be no
proportional fonts in modern computers, he is delusional. I do not think
he is delusional. I don't think he is lying either. He is exaggerating
his own accomplishments in his own mind, and he is used to having people
around him who nod and agree with whatever he claims. It is a
personality weakness, but to call it a "lie" is an overstatement,
because even Jobs knows this isn't true, and he must know he is not
fooling anyone. He is just spouting off.
(By the way, that is a fine speech despite this moment of egomania.)
It is not necessarily the mark of genius to do this kind thing. Many
stupid people who have never accomplished anything also do this.
However, being a genius does not preclude this behavior. I think it is
caused by people who see what is in their own minds more clearly than
outside reality. Edison was like that, by all accounts.
- Jed
