Re: Bad Archaeology

On Wed, 19 Sep 2007 22:42:05 -0500, <joerevskelton@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

Science begins with facts and looks for a theory to make sense of them.
Fringe science begins with a theory and looks for facts to support it.
Disamissal of fringe "scientests" should always be urgent, never casual.

maybe thats the difference between academia and genius then. and why
we'll never be seeing your name on the evening news (or the better
journals) with an amazing DISCOVERY seeing as your brain seems to only
run on predetermined lines of inquiry. You will always suffer a lack
of genius of vision, the capacity to see things not apparent to other
people, to think "outside the box", to innovate, to INVENT.

to quote Alhacen Ibn Al-Haytham (965 ? 1039, "Truth is sought for its
own sake. And those who are engaged upon the quest for anything for
its own sake are not interested in other things. Finding the truth is
difficult, and the road to it is rough. ..."

furthermore, you must look at the basic idea of "scientific method"
which is pretty much accepted worldwide. it runs like THIS:

1.Characterization : observations, measurements, quantifications
2. Hypothesis: theoretical hypothetical explanations of measurements
and observations
3. Predictions : resultant of the logical deduction between ones
observations (1) and ones hypothesized results (2)
4. Experimentation : testing for truth or untruth of the above.

Thomas Kuhn has done extensive work on the "theory laden" character of
observation. he has said the scientist generally has a theory in mind
before designing and undertaking experiments so as to make empirical
observation. in other words, generally, the scientist exploring that
which is unknown generally has a THEORY first and looks for the facts
to support or decline his origianal idea. thats the driving force
behind innovation and the furtherance of human knowledge.

Ben Franklin had the IDEA, the THEORY, that St.Elmos fire was
electrical in nature, but it took a large number of experiments and
THEORIES tyo establish this as a fact. im certain, in light of Mr.
Franklin's achievments, i mean, he ONLY invented things like the
lightning rod, the glass armonica, the Franklin stove, bifocal
glasses, and the flexible urinary catheter. HE certainly wasnt a
scientis by YOUR standards. Look at the famous experiment with the
kite and the key to determine if his theory that lightning was
electricity. He never had facts to start with, he had SUPPOSITIONS.

those scientists on the fringe, those mavericks of thought and idea,
will be tomorrows mainstream authors with accolades. well, at least
SOME of them will. remember that a lot of "scientists" used to believe
the world was flat, too. they had their FACTS to support it too, and
that stubborn refusal to alter their position on ANYTHING.

sort of like christians or other god-fearing folk with their
assosciated mthologies. im nt saying that every fringe idea should be
tossed out on its ass because it doesnt conform with what "we already
KNOW" im saying that if you refuse to read the maverick archaeologists
and openmindedly look at what facts they have gathered, then YOU are
gonna be the one missing out.

not that i really care one way or another. ill pursue my studies,
which will include the fringe theories as well as the quantifiable
measurements, ill look at the WHOLE PICTURE because as lauded as you
think your methods are, you are stuck INSIDE the system and are
hide-bound to follow the herd in its academic movements, whereas,
freerange as i am, ill be exposed to more bull***, but my overall
understanding of a subject will be more rich and detailed than yours
which will suffer from its lack of ingenuity and free thought.

textbooks are fine, they relate to us a lot of information that
everyone believes to be true. the fringe scientists question that,
which is the PUREST form of science. its too bad you already know
everything, or you might actually be able to learn something by
reading those authors that you attack without your own facts to back
you up.

The problem is seperating the produce from the ferilizer.
You may well end up with an education in bull***.

actually, for smart people, seperating truth from bull*** isnt THAT
HARD. and i could gain an education in bull*** at any university i
could choose to attend also. its too easy to fall into a certain type
of thinking that you have been told to think is TRUTH because it frees
you from having to think for yourself and allows you the leisure not
to question anything. i question everything i read, and do backup
research to see if theres any fire behind the smoke. ill always do
that because that is the way i THINK. you, on the other hand, have
come across as simply reactionary, standing up for the status quo and
for supporting your professors or whatnot without question.

y'know, i probably wouldnt LAST in academia. too many STUPID PEOPLE.

st bubba
.

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