Re: Rampant Pseudoscience in Astrophysics Brings Death

From: Craig Levine (Clevine_at_hfx.eastlink.ca)
Date: 06/09/04 

Date: 9 Jun 2004 09:16:48 -0700

cs_cagle@direcway.com (CCRyder) wrote in message news:<5a4ee64.0406082036.18a42bd@posting.google.com>...

<twaddle snipped>

Long time no hear from Chuckie.

I think I posted this a couple of years ago in reply to one of
your...odd...rants (I didn't creat this. It can be found using a
Google search):

THE CRACKPOT INDEX

A simple method for rating potentially revolutionary contributions to
physics:
A -5 point starting credit.

1 point for every statement that is widely agreed on to be false.

2 points for every statement that is clearly vacuous.

3 points for every statement that is logically inconsistent.

5 points for each such statement that is adhered to despite careful
correction.

5 points for using a thought experiment that contradicts the results
of a widely accepted real experiment.

5 points for each word in all capital letters (except for those with
defective keyboards).

5 points for each mention of "Einstien", "Hawkins" or "Feynmann".

10 points for each claim that quantum mechanics is fundamentally
misguided (without good evidence).

10 points for pointing out that you have gone to school, as if this
were evidence of sanity.

10 points for beginning the description of your theory by saying how
long you have been working on it.

10 points for mailing your theory to someone you don't know personally
and asking them not to tell anyone else about it, for fear that your
ideas will be stolen.

10 points for offering prize money to anyone who proves and/or finds
any flaws in your theory.

10 points for each new term you invent and use without properly
defining it.

10 points for each statement along the lines of "I'm not good at math,
but my theory is conceptually right, so all I need is for someone to
express it in terms of equations".

10 points for arguing that a current well-established theory is "only
a theory", as if this were somehow a point against it.

10 points for arguing that while a current well-established theory
predicts phenomena correctly, it doesn't explain "why" they occur, or
fails to provide a "mechanism".

10 points for each favorable comparison of yourself to Einstein, or
claim that special or general relativity are fundamentally misguided
(without good evidence).

10 points for claiming that your work is on the cutting edge of a
"paradigm shift".

20 points for emailing me and complaining about the crackpot index,
e.g. saying that it "suppresses original thinkers" or saying that I
misspelled "Einstein" in item 8.

20 points for suggesting that you deserve a Nobel prize.

20 points for each favorable comparison of yourself to Newton or claim
that classical mechanics is fundamentally misguided (without good
evidence).

20 points for every use of science fiction works or myths as if they
were fact.

20 points for defending yourself by bringing up (real or imagined)
ridicule accorded to your past theories.

20 points for each use of the phrase "hidebound reactionary".

20 points for each use of the phrase "self-appointed defender of the
orthodoxy".

30 points for suggesting that a famous figure secretly disbelieved in
a theory which he or she publicly supported. (E.g., that Feynman was a
closet opponent of special relativity, as deduced by reading between
the lines in his freshman physics textbooks.)

30 points for suggesting that Einstein, in his later years, was
groping his way towards the ideas you now advocate.

30 points for claiming that your theories were developed by an
extraterrestrial civilization (without good evidence).

30 points for allusions to a delay in your work while you spent time
in an asylum, or references to the psychiatrist who tried to talk you
out of your theory.

40 points for comparing those who argue against your ideas to Nazis,
stormtroopers, or brownshirts.

40 points for claiming that the "scientific establishment" is engaged
in a "conspiracy" to prevent your work from gaining its well-deserved
fame, or suchlike.

40 points for comparing yourself to Galileo, suggesting that a
modern-day Inquisition is hard at work on your case, and so on.

40 points for claiming that when your theory is finally appreciated,
present-day science will be seen for the sham it truly is. (30 more
points for fantasizing about show trials in which scientists who
mocked your theories will be forced to recant.)

50 points for claiming you have a revolutionary theory but giving no
concrete testable predictions.

Congratulations on your consisent high scores.

Cordially,

 - Craig

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Rampant Pseudoscience in Astrophysics Brings Death
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  • crackpot index, a special for the tin-foil brigade
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  • Re: Rampant Pseudoscience in Astrophysics Brings Death
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