Groups > sci.physics.relativity > #619023

Re: How can highly intelligent people wind up believing foolish things?

From	Physfitfreak <Physfitfreak@gmail.com>
Newsgroups	sci.physics.relativity
Subject	Re: How can highly intelligent people wind up believing foolish things?
Date	2023-08-26 23:20 -0500
Message-ID	<uceiua$jlqf$1@solani.org> (permalink)
References	<04ff2fde-8e36-4746-961a-311f8a45ebb7n@googlegroups.com> <kktmekF4s46U1@mid.individual.net> <64EA5156.3073@ix.netcom.com> <ucdv2l$jcgs$1@solani.org> <bc9a3a72-6418-48d8-823d-29bb641449edn@googlegroups.com>

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On 8/26/2023 7:03 PM, Richard Hertz wrote:
> On Saturday, August 26, 2023 at 7:41:28 PM UTC-3, Physfitfreak wrote:
>> On 8/26/2023 2:24 PM, The Starmaker wrote:
>>>>
>>>> On 25-Aug-23 1:15 pm, Laurence Clark Crossen wrote:
>>>>> By being indoctrinated in an ideology.
>>>>>
>>>>> Why can't they defend that with reason?
>>>>>
>>>>> Because they weren't persuaded by reason.
>>>>
>> Star, let me borrow your post so I can respond to Crossen. Thanks. He
>> makes a valid point.
>>
>> I have two points to make which might help you.
>>
>> 1. Reasoning to persuade you to give importance to a physics theory can
>> come in various ways. Sometimes it is directly comparing its predictions
>> with measurements in experiments. But that's for scientists in that
>> field, not the fresh students or scientists of other fields. Sometimes
>> the reasoning made is deriving the theory from other theories that you
>> are comfortable with. That, also, is for scientists. But sometimes, when
>> nothing else seems to have worked, one could at least bring you
>> _analogies_ from weirder assumptions made elsewhere in physics which you
>> have accepted without complaining, so that you could put the situation
>> in perspective and become more comfortable with the weird assumptions
>> made in the theory of relativity.
>>
>> I forged through like two hours a couple of days back in
>> sci.physics.relativity to get a picture, and more or less saw what was
>> happening. You are asking your questions from individuals who cannot
>> help you. They know their relativity, but they cannot help you with your
>> questions in any way other than throwing the books at you. In fact, they
>> do not make any of the three forms of reasoning that I just mentioned
>> above. They may even be thinking they're helping you (if they're not
>> that bright - a few of them are plain stupid), but they're not helping you.
>>
>> That's one point.
>>
>> 2. Second point is that, it's not their job to help you. You're alone in
>> this and all the work required is on you. Even in institutions where you
>> pay professors to help you, they never go all the 9 miles! Because the
>> rest of the job is on you :) If they spoon-feed you too much, it will
>> work against you in fact. It will leave holes in your understanding of
>> your own abilities.
>>
>> You either find some way to convince yourself about this theory all by
>> yourself, or, you fail to do that, in which case no harm is done because
>> it means it was not a field that would work for you anyway, so now you'd
>> know you should pursue other fields.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -- 
>> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
>> www.avast.com
> 
> 
> OR, he should stop asking why they eat smelly rotten fish.
> 
> Instead, post about facts that show that the smelly fish is rotten, instead of criticizing food habits of relativists.
> 
> Post one fact after another, along with consequences for the health of rotten fish eaters.
> 
> But don't criticize them for doing so. They've eaten rotten fish for so long that their immune system adapted to survive.
> 
> Relativists, in this way, have becoming mutants. They can't eat normal food.
> 


Hahhahah :-))

But they don't see it that way. And they're not fools. Neither are you. 
Physics is ultimately a personal endeavor. Each person makes his or her 
own take of it. If you agree to that, the road to choose gets clear to 
see, as I said above; you either manage to convince yourself that this 
theory is valid, or prove to yourself that it doesn't make sense and 
move on. No interactions with the mutants is required.

Yes, "mutations" happen, and when they do, it is not yet clear in the 
long term they'll be beneficial or destructive. You just have to leave 
them behind and move on.

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