On Mon, May 14, 2012 at 1:08 PM, Jed Rothwell <jedrothw...@gmail.com> wrote:
Do not judge Rossi by the standards of academic science. That's the biggest > mistake people make. Judge him instead by the standards of software > companies in the go-go 1980s, or railroad financing circa 1870 during the > Credit Mobilier scandal. Back then those industries were in the Wild West > (figuratively and literally) where no rules applied. Vaporware, rumors, > sleight-of-hand tricks, indirection, misdirection and corruption were > pervasive. It was an anything-goes, law-of-the-jungle atmosphere. I gather > the Italian business world is like that now, and always has been. That is > where Rossi comes from. > Agreed. I wonder whether a lot of the frustration with Rossi is more just a residue of people's initial skepticism towards cold fusion in general. The first reaction is to disbelieve any suggestion of cold fusion out of hand and for that reason to adopt the initial assumption that Rossi is lying. Once the reflexive doubt about cold fusion wears away, some of Rossi's unguarded public statements can be distracting. But when one listens to him speak in an interview, he sounds pretty reasonable. And if his inventions end up doing half of what he's reporting, I think humanity will owe him a huge debt of gratitude. In light of all of this, it seems safest to withhold judgement and see where things go. Eric
