Thursday, August 23, 2007

A simple answer to a rhetorical question

I followed a banner ad to what was purportedly a science book, called "The Final Theory".

Parts of its blurb:

What if Newton and Einstein were both wrong
about gravity being either an attracting force or
warped spacetime? What if Special Relativity and
Quantum Mechanics are misguided abstractions,
with even electric charge, magnetism and light
sizably misunderstood today?

...

What if all this was happening right now -- exposed
in a groundbreaking new science book -- with a
wealth of compelling answers that replace many
time-honored beliefs upon which today's science
status-quo depends? Would you hear about it from
the scientific community? Would its existence even
be acknowledged by our scientists, either privately
or publicly? Would those invested in an education
and career based on today's scientific understanding
want to know about it? Would they want you to?

The answer, plainly and simply, is 'yes'. Scientists, as a group, do not have a vested interest in keeping people ignorant, they do not have any reason to cling to theories that are clearly not supported by the evidence, and they only reason they would advocate one model over another is if it is clearly more correct. The 'science status quo' is a myth - it's constantly under attack by scientists, because the tearing down of current thinking allows it to be replaced by more correct thinking. Which means this book is clearly written by a dribbling moron who has no clue about science, and I would rate it as ludicrously expensive toilet paper. I would call upon the publishers of this tripe to put a video on YouTube apologising sincerely for their grievous error in disseminating this crud into the world.

2 comments:

Grant said...

Toilet Paper? Are you sure?...those edges could be sharp...paper cuts could be...problematic.

Josh said...

Okay, so it's expensive, shitty, toilet paper.