David Roberson <dlrober...@aol.com> wrote: It is unfortunate that these guys demand a verified theory before being > content to accept the lab results. I think this is a part of human nature > that many are unwilling to put their reputations on the line unless the > evidence is iron clad in every dimension.
I agree. It is also human nature to crave an explanation before we believe something. To demand an explanation is unscientific, but it is the norm. Read the political pundits and you will see all kinds of improbable ad hoc explanations for events. Medieval philosophers had an explanation for every aspect of reality, usually symbolic and religious. Nothing in creation was there by accident or coincidence. Everything had a deeper meaning. As long as the main line physics experts keep saying it is not possible, > these folks are not going to take a chance. It is as simple as that. > I am sure that is true. Unfortunately, the mainline physics experts know nothing about cold fusion and they refuse to look. > > If Rossi or some other organization places a device into the public > arena, eventually even the most skeptic among them will concede without a > good theory. In that case the skeptic physics community will have no > choice. > That is true too. In that sense, I think we all agree with Gibbs that a demonstration device would decide the issue. Every indication I have seen from Rossi, tells me that he knows that. He is doing all he can to avoid putting a device in the public arena for that reason. He does not want most people to believe his claims. He wants a small number of powerful, wealthy supporters to believe him, and he wants the rest of the world to think he is crazy, or a fraud. I think he is doing this because his IP is tenuous. That was the strategy pursued by Jim Patterson and Jim Reding. That is what they told me. "We don't want anyone to believe us other than the people in Motorola." Many other inventors throughout history have used this strategy. It usually fails, but inventors tend to be ignorant of history and bad at business strategy, so they keep trying to pull this off. I have spoken with some of Rossi's powerful supporters, who confirmed his claims independently. They approve of his strategy of keeping a low profile and trying to convince the world that he is nuts. I understand why Rossi is doing this, but I find this strategy annoying. I expect it will fail disastrously leaving Rossi with nothing. Powerful people will rip him off. Or worse, he will take the technology to the grave, the way Patterson, Case and so many others have done. - Jed
