Science Gets It Right Again - Before You Post ......

When we consider the following we are forced to reconsider the science we believe in today - what is the alternative, I don't know but we certainly need to think about this very carefully.

Especially those debunkers who love to jump in so quickly without any evidence whatsoever for their debunking and continual quotes paraphrasing this scientific report or that scientific theory.

I can take a good debunker but not a bad one and ATS should make it a rule that if you are going to debunk then provide the evidence or but out.

Here is a list of all the reasons why we should be very cautious about ridicule:

"The radio craze will die out in time" - Thomas A. Edison, 1922

"Television won't matter in your lifetime or mine." - Rex Lambert,writing in an editorial in the Listener in 1936.

"Video won't be able to hold onto any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get sick of staring at a plywood box every night" - Darryl Zanuck, Head of Twentieth Century Fox Studios, 1946.

"We have reached the limits of what is possible with computers." - Mathematician John Van Neumann 1948.

"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their own home." - Ken Olson, President Founder and Chairman of Digital Equipment, 1977.

Even the man who "first split the Atom" New Zealander Eernest Rutherford (Descibed as an Outstanding British Physicist) didn't think Nuclear Energy was a viable proposition and stated in 1933:
"The energy produced by the atom is a very poor kind of thing. Anybody who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine."

Admiral William Leavy - from whom the existence of the Manhattan Project was concealed until 1945 stated:
"This is the biggest fool thing we have ever done. The Bomb will never go off and I speak as an expert in explosives."

All Quotes From 'Science was Wrong' By Stanton Friedman MSc and Kathleen Marden.

'A book that explores how lack of imagination can stymie the developement of technological breakthroughs.'
Ridicule is a dangerous trait and should be stamped out.

Deny Ignorance but Beware!

A few more

“That virus is a pussycat.” — Dr. Peter Duesberg, molecular-biology professor at U.C. Berkeley, on HIV, 1988

"X-rays are a hoax." – Lord Kelvin

“Airplanes are interesting toys but of no military value.” — Marechal Ferdinand Foch, Professor of Strategy, Ecole Superieure de Guerre

“We will never make a 32 bit operating system.” — Bill Gates

“Flight by machines heavier than air is unpractical (sic) and insignificant, if not utterly impossible.” – Simon Newcomb

“Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” — Lord Kelvin, British mathematician and physicist, president of the British Royal Society, 1895

and many more at listverse.com...

I agree with your post about making foolhardy assumptions on certain aspect of sciences. But most of these quotes have nothing to do with science, but the impact that it would make on economics, culture and everyday life.

Here's a doozy!

Everything that can be invented has been invented. Charles H. Duell, Commissioner, U.S. patent office, 1899 (attributed)

If you eliminate ridicule for far-fetched ideas we'll find ourselves developing technology that is outright fraudulous and a waste of money. The current state of ridicule is excellent, every new idea must first meet the onslaught of the intellectuals and if it makes it through it is viable as a technological breakthrough. It is it's "test"

There is nothing that needs changing here.

What about the general populations' collective beliefs?

--the sun rotates around the Earth

--the Earth is flat

--Earth is 5000 yrs old (this one is still ongoing)

--You will go to Hell if (insert natural human behaviors here)

--just vote them out!

--If (insert noun here) was real, they would tell us on the TV

Those are some of my favorites.

Originally posted by DrChuck
I agree with your post about making foolhardy assumptions on certain aspect of sciences. But most of these quotes have nothing to do with science, but the impact that it would make on economics, culture and everyday life.

Fair point but doesn't all science lead to the same impact upon society?

I think the thread also stresses the importance of not ridiculing not only members, but also alternative theories that have yet to be proven.

To a point, members are right to expect proof of the various themes that OPs post yet it doesn't appear to work the other way around when people simply ridicule and debunk without providing equal evidence.

Perhaps it's just me but I've seen some OPs taking real unjustified comments after having proposed a theory that may well be classed as alternative and given no credit for their efforts.

reply to post by JibbyJedi


It works both ways. If ridicule was "Stamped out" as the OP suggested, then there would be far more people believing the Sun revolves around the Earth simply because no-one would ridicule them about such a ridiculous idea.

Originally posted by Somehumanbeing
If you eliminate ridicule for far-fetched ideas we'll find ourselves developing technology that is outright fraudulous and a waste of money. The current state of ridicule is excellent, every new idea must first meet the onslaught of the intellectuals and if it makes it through it is viable as a technological breakthrough. It is it's "test"

There is nothing that needs changing here.

There is big difference between Ridicule and Debate don't you think?

reply to post by Somehumanbeing


I think you're confusing ridicule with criticism. Ridiculing someone is not quite the same as critiquing their information presentations/comments. Less ridicule would probably bring out more timid folks who are a little more insecure than you or I may be, and we could be missing out on some really interesting perspectives.

reply to post by Seekeye2


reply to post by JibbyJedi



Hmm, I agree, I stand corrected on my exaggeration.

In regards to ridicule being stamped out though, I still believe that it is balanced in the manner that those that do so do out of fear of something new, or out of impatience when something with unfounded ground is being continually pressed. I see ridicule for example on both sides of arguments in this forum, eg, "chemtrails"

Pro-CT will ridicule the debunkers as being mindless sheep following the herd in an arrogant manner, while the Debunkers will ridicule the Pro-CT as being psychotic and paranoid again in an arrogant manner. Even the more reserved and open-minded of both sides will ridicule the other out of impatience in being able to convince them.

In a more social perspective, "Stamping out ridicule" forcibly will only help make it that much more "sweeter" for the arrogant or fed-up people to do so.

i remember having a physics teacher in high school, who went through a list of these science gone wrong lists.

He was doing a speed list (nothing can go faster than this etc etc) the second to last one was not being able to go faster than the speed of sound....we all laughed, cause he was giving the famous names of the people making these (now) ridiculous comments.

The next thing out of his mouth was, "but we will never go faster than the speed of light"

I instantly raised my hand and asked him if he would be quoted on the aforementioned list for saying that.

we argued, he couldn't see my point. he kept arguing about exponential mass blah blah.

Ah, the perils of over active left brain hemispheres... Humanity fell hard for that one!

Not only does this apply to scientific breakthroughs, but life and the entire reality you perceive as well. It's been one hell of a control method and is still going strong today.

By stifling the imagination and intuition, you drastically limit your potential. Most people go about their day entertaining useless concepts and compartmentalizing data, look around and you'll soon see that this overbearingly masculine energy speaks for itself.

There's a reason the other side of things has been stifled. It's probably the greatest secret on Earth, well, I can perhaps think of a few bigger... Begin to feel the consciousness that controls this planet, the all pervading flow of nature and abundance that governs your lifeforce. Tap into that and you will begin to understand raw power and potentiality, not to mention your true self.

Constructive critique is always good and should be taken as such but ridicule is usually based on Ego and needing to be right and I guess on a site like this we will always have this but I personally feel that Ego very often gets in the way of the readability of the thread.

Getting back to Science though - I'm sure many scientific brains that pour forth from the worlds Universities are as valuable as they ever were and should be appreciated for the knowledge they impart. However when it comes to research - another valuable area - how many times do we hear of rediculous amounts of money being spent on rediculous areas of research.
I remember when I was in the UK living by a lake that was sitting on top of an old mining area that was riddled with old mine shafts and disused coal seams - the water suddenly disappeared overnight and the local government spent spent $50,000 to finaly discover that the water disappeared down a hole.
Now anyone in their right mind knew this - I for one would have told them this for $5000 lol

There are many similar stories and they are often because of a total lack of common sense.

All I say is to remember that until proven - Science is theory based and many theories like Darwins are as yet unproven.

the water suddenly disappeared overnight and the local government spent spent $50,000 to finaly discover that the water disappeared down a hole.

I believe they do that to be truly sure that that was the cause and no greater "danger" was present, so much so that they will dismiss a logical conclusion without evidence. Sort of like a crime-scene.

All I say is to remember that until proven - Science is theory based and many theories like Darwins are as yet unproven.

Science is theory based, that is correct. But with theories in science there is capability for producing evidence, something with Darwin's has been able to produce long after his death. Religion on the other hand, is faith based, and anything can be said to be the work of god as a satisfying (for the not-so-curious) explanation.


I believe things are fine as they are.

Originally posted by Seekeye2

Originally posted by Somehumanbeing
If you eliminate ridicule for far-fetched ideas we'll find ourselves developing technology that is outright fraudulous and a waste of money. The current state of ridicule is excellent, every new idea must first meet the onslaught of the intellectuals and if it makes it through it is viable as a technological breakthrough. It is it's "test"

There is nothing that needs changing here.

There is big difference between Ridicule and Debate don't you think?

Seekeye2:
"Facts" are not "debateable" .or they wouldn't be "facts."
"What wine"goes" with hormel chili? is President Obama a "good"choice for the job? all that personally subjective stuff is "debateable,

What goes on here is less debate and more "education"in basic commonly taught and accepted science.and math.

Look: Iam not saying "we will never tap into an energy source fron outside our: (Mem) "brane" (i.e. dimemsion) ! but if we do it will still follow the laws of thermodynamics including "entropy" and conservation of energy.Or it wil be an entirely new class of something and require new physics to understand it. but to jump on here screaming:"Tesla had it all figured out 100+ years ago and here's: "PROOF" is not "debate" it's "masturbation": it feels good but means little.

Originally posted by 46ACE

Originally posted by Seekeye2

Originally posted by Somehumanbeing
If you eliminate ridicule for far-fetched ideas we'll find ourselves developing technology that is outright fraudulous and a waste of money. The current state of ridicule is excellent, every new idea must first meet the onslaught of the intellectuals and if it makes it through it is viable as a technological breakthrough. It is it's "test"

There is nothing that needs changing here.

There is big difference between Ridicule and Debate don't you think?

Seekeye2:
"Facts" are not "debateable" .or they wouldn't be "facts."
"What wine"goes" with hormel chili? is President Obama a "good"choice for the job? all that personally subjective stuff is "debateable,

What goes on here is less debate and more "education"in basic commonly taught and accepted science.and math.

Look: Iam not saying "we will never tap into an energy source fron outside our: (Mem) "brane" (i.e. dimemsion) ! but if we do it will still follow the laws of thermodynamics including "entropy" and conservation of energy.Or it wil be an entirely new class of something and require new physics to understand it. but to jump on here screaming:"Tesla had it all figured out 100+ years ago and here's: "PROOF" is not "debate" it's "masturbation": it feels good but means little.

edit on 22-3-2011 by 46ACE because: (no reason given)

So are you saying that we can't debate the facts and how they can be utilized and applied in order to prove or disprove a theory?

reply to post by Somehumanbeing


Did Galileo ridicule the masses or was he ostricized for his beliefs? Without alternative views and testing and experiments we would still be using seashells as currency, and living in caves. I do not agree with all of science nor all experimentation, but thank goodness someone felt he could fly, no matter what the prevailing thought was.

I.... Love this thread.


Second line


Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com

reply to post by Seekeye2


Haha, so very true!
Sadly, it's not suprising to see the arrogance that often comes hand-in-hand with assumed intellect is still alive and well in todays scientific community.
Those who insist they are right, simply because they assume science to be the be-all and end-all of truth and fact, are often bigger fools then those they attack for considering alternatives!
Oh, how dare anyone question a scientists opinion, unless they have the paperwork or letters after their name to prove they are intelligent enough to do so!!

"X-Rays are a hoax!"
*Chuckle* That just makes me think of all the self-professed "experts" here on ATS (you know who I mean I'm sure), so eager to put others down rather than actually do anything constructive with their membership like explain to the youth the error of their assumptions, rather than scoff at them not being as 'superior'.

Science today...it's just as dogmatic as religion.