On Wed, Jun 5, 2013 at 10:35 AM, Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> wrote:
Here is what I don't get about these people. Suppose cold fusion is a > mistake, or fraud. It is inconsequential. The worst that can happen is that > a few retired professors waste their time and Rossi steals some money. > I suspect there are two factors coming together. First, perhaps there's an impression that scientific training is in decline and that standards in science are falling. This creates a context in which you want to straighten out science grad students and the public at large and get them to aim for higher standards. But to do this they shouldn't be allowed to be confused by people peddling snake oil. That will be a waste of their time and of public money. The next factor, which lends particular urgency to the matter of cold fusion, is the level of perceived threat. Water memory, perpetual motion machines and homeopathy are not perceived as threats. Cold fusion is, by contrast. So one can snicker at water memory, but it's not as funny when grants for foundations are being provided at universities once again. If one does not act promptly and decisively, we could be back at 1989 again and have a whole new generation to educate about what science really involves. The adherents of these fads are the last people you want to worry about trying to persuade. You have to do what you have to do to ensure that the public at lage and graduate students are not beguiled by their distorted worldview. Eric
