Re: What is a scientist?


"Panties On Head" <No@xxxxx> wrote in message
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| "Sorcerer" <Headmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
| news:4k0Rg.9652$aP3.6820@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| >
| > "Panties On Head" <No@xxxxx> wrote in message
| > news:d4udnb5qN_l1GInYnZ2dnUVZ_tqdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| > |
| > | "Sorcerer" <Headmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
| > | news:dgPQg.32880$wg.32767@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| > | >
| > | > "Panties On Head" <No@xxxxx> wrote in message
| > | > news:mJOdnQcjcern_I7YnZ2dnUVZ_tmdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| > | > |> > Can a serious researcher legitimately be called a scientist if
| they
| > | do
| > | > | > > not have a Ph.D. ? What if they only have a bachelor's
degree?
| > | What
| > | > if
| > | > | > > they have no degree?
| > | > |
| > | > |
| > | > | If one paints, he is a painter.
| > | > | If you bowl, you are a bowler.
| > | > | If you try to solve problems by reasoning and using scientific
| method,
| > | > then
| > | > | you are practicing science.
| > | > |
| > | > | Technology is a guage of the sophistication of the progress of
| > science.
| > | > |
| > | > | Personally, I'm very receptive to anyone who imagines things
| > regardless
| > | of
| > | > | how kooky they are. I dont call someone a crank simply because
they
| > | > imagine.
| > | > |
| > | > | But the crank meter starts to wiggle when people make bold claims
of
| > | fact.
| > | > | This is also something that I myself am guilty of - admittedly.
| > | > |
| > | > | The crank meter is going into the red zone when solid evidence is
| > | > presented
| > | > | which refutes the new ideas and the person keeps pushing those
| ideas.
| > | > |
| > | > | The crank meter is maxed out when proof to the contrary is
ignored.
| > | > |
| > | > | Going beyond this one is more likely guilty of fraud, possibly
even
| > | > criminal
| > | > | fraud. For example - to promote the idea that drinking gasoline is
| > | healthy
| > | > | for babies because of one's personal new scientific theories.
| > | > |
| > | > | It is possible to do tremendous damage by promoting incorrect
ideas,
| > and
| > | > so
| > | > | cranks are generally frowned upon. It's seriosus stuff. But there
| must
| > | > | always be room for imagineers, dreamers, fools, and court jesters.
| > | Without
| > | > | them science would never evolve.
| > | > |
| > | > | As an example, after having lobotomized approximately 1/2 million
| > people
| > | > we
| > | > | now know that lobotomies do not help people at all, whatsoever,
not
| > even
| > | a
| > | > | little. And that's what happens when someone like JSH is graduated
| > | through
| > | > | medical school.
| > | >
| > | >
| > | > Well put.
| > | > One minor quibble.
| > | >
| > | > " Technology is a guage of the sophistication of the progress of
| > science."
| > | >
| > | > I disagree.
| > | >
| > | > The market is a gauge of the progress of technology.
| > | >
| > | > When technology encounters scientific theory it will do one of
| > | > three things.
| > | > a) apply it.
| > | > b) ignore it.
| > | > c) side-step around it.
| > | >
| > | > Examples:
| > | > a) We fly, we sent men to the moon and back, we built the bomb.
| > | > b) We are not going to visit the centre of the sun, the inside of an
| > atom
| > | > or the edge of the universe. We do not control weather or
| earthquakes.
| > | > c) Ring laser gyroscopes work no matter what Einstein said.
| > | >
| > | > At the end of the day it doesn't matter what Joe Sixpack believes,
| > | > it is what he buys. Tomorrow is another day.
| > | >
| > | > Androcles
| > | >
| > | >
| > |
| > |
| > | Quite true. And my characterization also seems to suggest that
| technology
| > is
| > | somehow cumulative. I dont think that it is. There are very few decent
| > "old
| > | school" machinists or carpenters left alive on this planet.
| Manufacturing
| > | has become so automated that nobody needs to know anything anymore.
| >
| >
| > At the age of 16 I was expected to file mild steel flat, to within
| 0.00025".
| > That was the start of an apprenticeship that cannot be equalled today,
| > Her Majesty's dockyards produces some of the finest artificers ever.
| > One guy (far better than me, he had unlimited patience) could get to
| > within 0.00001", carefully scraping. After that, another year in a
machine
| > shop, still producing nothing and in the third year we went afloat and
| > actually did some work under the supervision of a "skipper" who was
| > paid a little extra to teach us for three days a week, then two
| > days were college. We got our indentures back after five years.
| > We thought it was a rough deal at the time but with hindsight it was
| > a damned good one.
|
|
| We (USA) used to have the strongest industry on the face of the Earth.
Where
| I grew up, factories were everywhere. And there were literally legions of
| people who worked in those places. Industry was the primary social
activity
| and it was deeply engrained in the culture. Everything revolved around it.

That was after Americans copied the Brits and had brass bands where
everyone blew their own trumpet they'd made themselves.
http://www.dodworth.org/

| Then we had the Vietnam War.

That was a police action, not a war. Or so I'm told...


| From that point on everything seems to have
| simply fallen apart. Today, factories are being torn down, most are
already
| gone, and industrial culture is fast becoming a thing of the past - around
| here anyway.
|
| We are graduating people from highschool who do not even know what a
| 1/1000th of an inch is, much less how to machine a piece of metal. The US
| has been turned into a social experiment on extreme materialism. A job is
no
| longer considered to be a neccesary component of a respectable working
life.

Why bother when the Far East can produce better quality?
A Harley Davidson is no match for a 1960's 250 cc 4 cylinder 16 valve
Honda that destroyed the British motorcyle industry, a Sony TV was
far better and cheaper than a Zenith, the Chinese build generic computers.


| A job is a gift, or a reward. And we are very quick to deny employment to
| vast numbers of able bodied people. There is little question why the US
has
| more felons in prison than there are active Al Queda members throughout
the
| world. Factories go down, and prisons go up. They could save alot of money
| by simply chaining someone to a lathe. : )

Or a soldering iron....
It's the same in Britain, I've just bought a Chinese B/W TV with 5" screen
in a street market for £5, and it WORKS! By adding a webcam I have my
own security system, and they are cheap enough. £5 will also buy 20
cigarettes, which is all tax.

The decline and fall of the British Empire began with the Boston tea party.
Those ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. What you are really
looking at is complacent decadence, there is no need to work if you have
all the bread and circuses you need.
Kids can't climb trees in case they hurt themselves, so they rob convenience
stores and do a little drive-by shooting when they are teenagers instead.
All they want is cash to buy drugs to give them the dutch courage that they
missed out on when they were kids. Teachers can't rap their knuckles with
a wooden ruler either, so down the tubes it all has to go.
Androcles


.

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