Xavier Luminous <xavier.lumin...@googlemail.com> wrote: Not telling others you are gay isn't living a lie, it's just nobody's damn > business but your own. >
I agree, this is a personal matter. My only objection to T. A. Randi is that he knows nothing about this subject yet he pontificates about it as if he does. Robert Park *does* know something about cold fusion, despite the fact that he claims he has never read a paper about it. He has met with cold fusion researchers. He knows a great deal about physics. So do people such as Huizenga and Garwin. I think they are much worse than Randi or other mass media figure such as "science reporters" like Lemonick or Gibbs who know nothing about science. I don't blame silly people for being ignorant or mistaken. I blame smart people who should be careful, and who should know better. The usefulness of harsh critics in science has been exaggerated. A good scientist is his own harshest critic. As Martin Fleischmann says, "it is the easiest thing in the world to convince yourself you have nothing." Third rate scientists sometimes fool themselves into thinking that an instrument artifact is a real effect. Such mistakes are easily discovered by others. We don't need harsh critics to look for such things. A polite, respectful critique is called for. - Jed
