Jed wrote:
"let us prepare for more trouble"...
and
"I think we should marshal arguments and prepare to present our views, if the
mass media calls.
Let's face it, they are not likely to get a good initial impression of Rossi,
from his blog or the
way he talks. The field has suffered from the worst PR imaginable for 22 years,
with researchers and
others saying the wrong thing and giving the wrong impression time after time.
For once, I would
like to see us present the facts in a good light. And for once, I would like to
see us prepared for
an onslaught of opposition, rather than being caught with no response to the
attacks, or with
statements that seem to give credence to them."
Now that's a good idea... and one can start by simply scanning all the comment
sections of websites
where a CF story ran, and summarize each skeptic's question or statement, and
counter it with the
facts. Keep it short and sweet, with links to references... the list of
Rossi's 'clues' was put
together in a matter of a week... perhaps 10 days. Wouldn't take long to do
something similar, and
I think I've got the perfect title:
Cold Fusion or Low Energy Nuclear Reactions
Fact vs Fiction -- Reality vs Perception
-Mark
_____
From: Jed Rothwell [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, April 25, 2011 7:42 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [Vo]:Comic gets it right
Mark Iverson <[email protected]> wrote:
Have to disagree with Jed's conclusions as to the extreme level of opposition
that this will face...
Those are not conclusions so much as worst case scenarios. I think we should be
prepared for a
continuation of what we have seen for the past 22 years. However much we might
hope that things will
improve, let us prepare for more trouble.
Years ago, I never would have imagined the extreme opposition at Nature and DoE
would continue this
long, in the face of experiment such as the ones at SRI, Energetics Tech. or
the Italian labs, yet
it has continued. It is unabated, as if these experiments never too place. Also
as if the "60
Minutes" program was never broadcast. The opposition at Nature, and for that
matter Wikipedia, is as
strong as it was in the weeks after the announcement, when the professors at
MIT were attacking the
research in phone calls to the Boston papers. Not only is the opposition as
strong as it was, the
ignorance displayed by major scientists and editors is as powerful as it ever
was. Like the Bourbon
dynasty, they "learn nothing and forget nothing."
I don't think there is any situation in the history of modern economics that
can compare with what
is happening...
That is certainly true.
Sure, there are powerful centers that don't want to see this technology make it
to market... but
there are 100 times that many powerful entities that want to have a piece of
the pie...
I hope so.
But I do not think it would be wise for Rossi, or the rest of us, to count on
that. I think we
should marshal arguments and prepare to present our views, if the mass media
calls. Let's face it,
they are not likely to get a good initial impression of Rossi, from his blog or
the way he talks.
The field has suffered from the worst PR imaginable for 22 years, with
researchers and others saying
the wrong thing and giving the wrong impression time after time. For once, I
would like to see us
present the facts in a good light. And for once, I would like to see us
prepared for an onslaught of
opposition, rather than being caught with no response to the attacks, or with
statements that seem
to give credence to them.
- Jed
