David Roberson <dlrober...@aol.com> wrote:
> Perhaps I sound like a Rossi fan by continuing to support his claims while > many of the other vorts seem to question them. I guess my confidence in > many of his statements is that they tend to be confirmable by my model > performance. . . . > I hope no one here objects to your speculation. If they do, I object to their objection! You are not "supporting" Rossi. Neither am I. We both have good reasons to think that his claims are probably real. (Although who knows about the latest claim.) We all know there are other reasons to doubt these claims. The reasons to believe are mainly technical. The reasons to doubt are mainly political, or based on Rossi's appearance or behavior. This forum is mainly devoted to technical issues, so it seems to me we should devote most of the discussion to the former. In a scientific discussion no one who says "let's suppose" or "what if" should be called a "supporter." People who say that do not understand the concepts of open-minded inquiry, or suspending judgement. These things are essential. Science, technology and progress would not exist without them. Every single thing discovered since the stone age seemed improbable at first. Many things seemed miraculous. Imagine how people must have felt when they first mastered fire. Imagine how people from 1800 would feel looking around our world. Remember Clarke's 2nd and 3rd laws: 1. The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. 2. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. - Jed
