Von: "Alain Sepeda" <[email protected]>
An: "Vortex List" <[email protected]>
Betreff: Re: [Vo]:Steven Krivit : "Federal Investigations Reveal Academic Backstabbing at Purdue University."
Taleyarkhan contributed to the conflict in three ways. First, although he responded to his critics convincingly in scientific journals, he failed to proactively respond to his critics and their often-incorrect and damaging statements in the popular media. He waited until the last possible day to file a defamation lawsuit.
In general, skeptics display the following habits.
1. They do not express their criticism in those venues where it will be subject to peer review.
2. They do not go into the laboratory and practice the experiment along side the practitioner (as does the critic).
3. Assertions are offered as though they were scientifically based when they are merely guesses.
4. Questions are raised that concern matters outside of the boundaries of the claimed observation.
5. Satire, dismissal, and slander are freely employed.
6. When explanations are advanced for a possible source, ad hoc reasons are instantly presented for their rejection. These rejections often assert offhand that the explanation violates some physical conservation law.
7. Evidence raised in support of the claims is rejected outright if it does not answer every possible question. No intermediate steps to find a source are acceptable
Thanks for pointing out the NET article, Alain.
I recall a number of private conversations I had with Steve Krivit concerning the Tsoukalas vs. Taleyarkhan investigation. This was during a time when I was still on Krivit's BoD. (I was on the NET BoD for approximately 3-4 months and ending around May of 2010.) From what I had read Taleyarkhan did seem to have gotten the short end of a splintered stick. Meanwhile, Tsoukalas' professional behavior during the same time period struck me as less than stellar. Let me put it this way to the Vort Collective: I would not have wanted Tsoukalas to have been my boss.
The whole affair is a fascinating account. I would encourage the curious to read up on it. It can occasionally read like a juicy soap opera spiced with questionable ethical behavior both on and off the court.
I have said this before and I will say it again. Steve Krivit does have the capacity to perform excellent hard-hitting investigative work. I think Krivit's investigations into the Taleyarkhan affair is an example of what Krivit got more right than wrong. The following assessment is most certainly anecdotal and totally derived out of my own flawed opinions: Krivit gives me the impression that he excels at digging up dirt on others. If dirt really exists, such as in the Taleyarkhan account, Krivit is likely to exhume the remains and expose everything in full Technicolor. Unfortunately, if the interpretation of wrong-doing exists primarily within Krivit's personal perceptions, such as in the M4 investigations that alleged McKubre had misrepresented his experimental findings, Krivit is more in danger of coming across as something akin to a stringer for the National Enquirer – as perceived by those who may disagree with his conclusions. One of the principal reasons I resigned from the NET BoD was because I eventually came to the opinion that I flatly disagreed with Krivit’s M4 conclusions – that along with Krivit’s personal handling of himself on a radio interview where he implied that McKubre had lied about the M4 data. Krivit never came out and deliberately stated on that radio show that McKubre had “lied”. Krivit left that to the talk show host to state for the record. Krivit left no doubt in the audience’s mind that that is precisely what he wanted the listeners to conclude as well.
Putting a positive spin on this whole affair, sometimes the good guy does finish last. In this case, Tsoukalas is out of the picture while I gather Taleyarkhan, even if his professional reputation for the moment remains a tad frayed, still has his job at Purdue. That pretty much tells me everything I need to know about who really held on to his mojo and who couldn't.
Regards,
Steven Vincent Johnson
