Re: Some Simple Questions
From: W. Dale Hall (mailtodhall_at_farir.com)
Date: 03/21/05
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Date: Mon, 21 Mar 2005 19:36:02 GMT
Charlie-Boo wrote:
> 1. If someone says "I have a system that produces X" and in their
> paper that introduces and explains the system there are no examples of
> an X that is produced, does that demonstrate that the system cannot
> produce X and the statement that it produces X is false?
>
No. Alternative explanations abound:
Incompetence.
Clerical error.
Misplaced portion of text.
Accidental oversight.
The dog ate my homework.
Passive-aggressive acting out.
Inability of the reader to see that the paper *does* produce X.
Overzealous editing that removes production of X.
Disappearing Ink.
Vandalized copy of article.
Unwillingness of reader to see that the paper *does* produce X.
Insufficient space in article to produce X.
Wish to pad number of publications, and so defer production of X
to follow-on paper.
I quit before covering all possible explanations. It is foolish to
pretend that such things *cannot possibly* happen.
> 2. If someone makes a claim but declines to substantiate it, does that
> demonstrate that their claim lacks any mathematical significance and
> that they are being dishonest to make that claim?
>
No. It could be that the person doesn't know how to substantiate it. It
could be that the person doesn't like you, and wishes to torment you
beyond your ability to ignore it. It could be that he forgot, or it's
work in progress, or any number of things. It is foolish to jump to any
firm conclusion. However, it does lend credence to the hypotheses you
suggest. One must go on the preponderance of evidence, not on a single
instance.
> 3. If someone cites a reference and claims that the paper or text
> contains a certain result, but declines to quote the passage or give
> the page or section number that contains the result, does that
> demonstrate that the reference does not contain the result and they are
> being dishonest to claim that it does?
>
No. This is foolish. However, failure to give any way for the reader
to narrow the scope of search (such as giving page / section) is sloppy
citation, and the person who made the citation should be asked politely
for such information. This presupposes, of course, that the complainant
fully intends to make a good faith effort to locate the cited source and
then to evaluate the claims against the source.
> 4. Is a person's past history a factor in determining if a particular
> result that they present is valid or not?
>
No. It's a factor in determining whether that person is credible, but
results are valid or invalid *on their own*, irrespective of history.
Person X lies persistently about many things. If Person X now says 'Y',
I will tend not to believe 'Y', unless I know 'Y' already, or have
enough experience to have an idea of whether 'Y' may be true. For
instance, if X says "mumblemumble downward Lowenheim-Skolem, blahblah
Los-Vaught, Mahlo diamond urelements fleeble florp", I have no clue,
and will have to think X is just ranting. However if X says "I watched
TV yesterday", or "one plus one is two", then I would be inclined to
accept that.
Even crazy people can say correct things. They can do it on purpose, or
they can accidentally say something correct. A crazy person can't affect
the validity of a fixed statement.
> C-B
>
Were you going somewhere with all this?
Dale.
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