At 11:33 AM 6/20/2010, Jed Rothwell wrote:
See:
<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=when-scientists-sin>http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=when-scientists-sin
"David Goodstein in his new bookOn Fact and Fraud . . . Other cases
are not so clear. Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons's "discovery"
of cold fusion, Goodstein concludes, was most likely a case of
scientists who "convince themselves that they are in the possession
of knowledge that does not in fact exist." This self-deception is
distinctly different from deliberate deception."
That comment cuts both ways, of course! The "knowledge" that CF was
"impossible" did not exist, it was not experimentally based, which,
in the subject case, would have involved conclusive demonstration
that the reported effect did not exist, not merely demonstration that
it might be difficult to reproduce.
Goodstein is clearly aware of the problem. But it looks like SA is
here quoting him in a way to make it appear that he has concluded
that P and F were sincere and not frauds, but perhaps deluded.
Goodstein's real position is clearly more in the middle, he's aware
that the possibility of self-delusion exists on both sides.
I've seen self-delusion operating on the CF side, Jed, and I know you
have noticed it as well.... It's obviously operating on the side of
those who positively reject CF evidence without investigation.....
