Jed,
For "made-up nonsense" that is "irrelevant" and "unimportant," you seem to
be reacting quite strongly.
I presented the facts; you didn't like them -- you attacked the messenger
-- with your speculations.
If you can prove my facts to be wrong, then go ahead...
Otherwise, I will file your diatribes as they appear: hateful, cowardly and
desperate.
Steve
At 01:55 PM 10/22/2009, you wrote:
Steven Krivit wrote:
You wish it was made-up. Fact is, I suck at fiction. Almost failed my
creative writing classes in high school.
This is probably not a serious comment . . . But in any case, an inability
to write fiction is no indication that you are good at writing
non-fiction. On the contrary, writing is writing. A skilled writer can
describe reality, speculation, and hypothetical or imaginary subjects
equally well. Most technical writing, for example, describes speculative
or imaginary objects, or wishful thinking, because the manuals are written
before the product is finished. (That is an old joke, but it is also true
and it makes writing technical manuals harder than you might think.)
An unskilled writer who has difficulty writing fiction may be having
problems distinguishing between his own ideas and fantasies, other
people's ideas, and facts grounded in reality. That appears to be Krivit's
problem. Francis Bacon first described this confusion in what he called
the "idols of the mind."
This is not an important report, and there is nothing particularly
damaging about it. But it is nonsense. Let me relate one example of the
nonsense:
"Another person who was involved, but who did not wish to be quoted, later
told New Energy Times that they were informed with two weeks' advance
notice that the plan for Fleischmann was to arrive in Rome on Sunday
evening and return home on Tuesday."
I was periodically in touch with the people in Tisbury before the
conference. I know they did not make final plans until the last days. Mike
McKubre reiterated this in a message to me today. I checked through my
e-mail and that's what they were telling me: "We hope to go but we're not
sure."
And that is what you would expect with Parkinson's. There is nothing odd
or sinister or surprising about it. That's how it was with my mother. When
she felt okay, she went as planned. We got refundable tickets. Krivit
plays it up into some kind conspiracy, as if someone was trying to cover
up Fleischmann's plans. That's silly.
Perhaps Krivit made this up, or misunderstood, or perhaps he heard it from
someone who made it up. If he had bothered to ask me or anyone else in
touch with the Fleischmanns, we would have told him: "Oh no, they say
won't know until the last minute. That's how it is traveling with Parkinson's."
- Jed
