Theory/theology prevailing over experiment/reality is pre-enlightenment and it is highly irrational.
On Sat, Dec 29, 2012 at 6:24 AM, Alain Sepeda <[email protected]>wrote: > One thing to take into account is the "rationality" of the system... > if too rational no eccentric ideas is tolerated. > > if a system is too strict about what is tolerated it will block innovation. > > it is where Tenure system can help, or the fellowship that you find in > some big corps... > > it is probably what is allowing ST microelectronics, Technova, MHI, to go > on in LENR... > it is what was finally too weak at SPAWAR... > > > allowing a minority of irrationality, of lack of responsability, lack of > watching, lack of need to prove is a way to allow creativity to survive... > > I agree also that english language, anglosaxon liberalist (european > meaning, opposed to mediaval) way of mind have make the occident science as > a monolith of groupthink... mostly rational but sometime locked... > > island of insulated culture are needed. it allow speciation, like darwin > found... > > > 2012/12/29 Harry Veeder <[email protected]> > >> Another factor to consider is the influence of the english language >> publications >> Nature and Scientific American. They have less infleunce non-english >> speaking communities >> so their dim views on LENR carry less weight in non-english speaking >> nations like Italy. >> >> >> Harry >> >> >> On Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 7:46 PM, James Bowery <[email protected]> wrote: >> > That's one way to view it. An alternative that isn't necessarily >> exclusive: >> > >> > I recall holding a public debate at the Ruben H. Fleet Science Center >> in San >> > Diego during the 1980s -- before the collapse of the Soviet Union -- >> > regarding NASA's role in launch services vs the fledgling private launch >> > services. During the debate an engineer from General Dynamics who had >> > worked on the Atlas got up and declared that the reason the US >> government >> > couldn't get its launch services running as well as the communists was >> that >> > the communists executed corrupt bureaucrats, and that was what was >> needed if >> > the public sector was going to be in charge of launch services. >> > >> > In short: The commies were good at communism because they had no >> private >> > sector to tax, so they had to make communism work. The us public >> sector is >> > the worst of both worlds because it has a private sector to tax and so >> > doesn't have to execute it corrupt bureaucrats to stay alive. >> > >> > >> > On Fri, Dec 28, 2012 at 5:23 PM, Jed Rothwell <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> >> >> James Bowery <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >>> To what do you attribute Italy's relatively-functional immune system? >> >> >> >> >> >> A laid-back attitude. I mean it. They don't take themselves as >> seriously >> >> as we do. They know their institutions are far from perfect. >> >> >> >> The U.S. is burdened by too much self-respect. We take ourselves too >> >> seriously. We have too much high regard for out place in the world and >> our >> >> institutions. (Other than the Congress.) All this blather about being >> the >> >> best place on earth leads us to act like the world's policeman, and to >> >> imagine that our universities and scientists are the best of the best. >> When >> >> experts at the DoE or the major journals say that cold fusion does not >> >> exist, ordinary people give their opinions far too much credibility. >> Too >> >> much respect. >> >> >> >> Japanese people tend to be even worse in that regard. They have >> waa-a-a-y >> >> too much respect for experts. >> >> >> >> The fact is, many scientists are incompetent screw-ups. It is the human >> >> condition. Farmers, programmers, stock brokers, bank presidents, army >> >> generals . . . people everywhere make mistakes. Half the population is >> below >> >> average, as an army general was once horrified to discover. I think the >> >> Italians are more aware of that. It helps that they lost several wars >> in a >> >> row. It helps to be a smaller country, less full of yourself. See the >> novel >> >> "Catch 22" for details. >> >> >> >> - Jed >> >> >> > >> >> >
