Mark Iverson-ZeroPoint <[email protected]> wrote: But Jed, a scientist with that kind of unconscious block is severely > handicapped! >
But only with regard to one subject. In this case, the scientist cannot deal with cold fusion. As long as his job does not involve cold fusion he is fine. If he brought that dogmatic attitude to his own work, he would be in trouble. Some scientists do. Some people are not good at their chosen profession, after all. Perhaps it will become generally known that cold fusion is real, and there will be a brouhaha. That will break the spell. Your friend will snap out of it and see cold fusion for what it is. He might even make an important contribution to the field. This might be a form of the group behavior Charles Mackay described in his famous book "Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds" (1841). Quoting Mackay: "Men, it has been well said, think in herds; it will be seen that they go mad in herds, while they only recover their senses slowly, and one by one." - Jed
