Dear discussion group,
Novel science is fine.
Random wild thinking without testing ones ideas against basic laws of physics and mechanics is simply not science.
Do your 'homework' read the (old) literature and test ideas against physics, mechanics and chemistry, then bring your ideas to your colleagues.
If you are then proven to be wrong, no problem, everybody learns from it. If you are right, the idea has been firmly tested by a group of peers and has gained value and credibility.
Regards, Dirk
On May 4, 2011, at 7:40 PM, Alessandro Michetti wrote:
> I totally agree with Malcolm; I like this list exactly because people is not
> scared to write about geology and flying spaghetti monster (by the way,
> being italian, thank you for the spaghetti....); and is very very easy to
> delete an email message if you don't like it, the real problem will come
> when we will have only discussions about "established certainties" -
> which is by definition the dead of science
>
> best regards
>
> Alessandro
>
> On 4 May 2011 at 16:06, Malcolm McClure wrote:
>
>>
>> Dear All:
>> Whilst I agree that this is not the place to discuss controversial
>> possibilities in depth, I deplore Dr Rippington's disparaging subject
>> line above. Science is surely about reaching beyond established
>> categories of knowledge. Thinking 'outside the box' is surely to be
>> encouraged, and questions coming from the sidelines can sometimes
>> cause us to reconsiderthe so-called 'established certainties'. The
>> Expanding Earth is as much a philosophical challenge as a scientific
>> question, because scientific evidence can so easily be adapted to fit
>> anticipated reality. There have been many occasions in the past when
>> earth science has moved forward reluctantly in the face of new
>> interpretations of the data, as those of us who remember the early
>> days of plate tectonics have good cause to remember.
>>
>> We should consider well-intended suggestions with due humility,
>> rejecting those that are unfounded with charitable comment and storing
>> away better ideas for future use, if and when appropriate.
>>
>> Cheers
>> Malcolm
>> On 4 May 2011, at 08:17, Stephen Rippington wrote:
>> Hopefully, most of the people who subscribe to Geo-tectonics are like
>> me, and will have deleted this email based on the obviously silly
>> subject before bothering to read it. For the rest of you….
>>
>> Dear Geo-tectonics list,
>>
>> I love to have a laugh as much as the next guy, but Geo-tectonics
>> appears to have taken a turn for the hippy and surreal in recent days.
>> I think it’s great that everyone’s getting involved in these
>> discussions, but I’m not sure a mailing list is the correct forum for
>> debate.
>>
>> For those who havedatathere is a perfectly decent peer-review system
>> in place, where you can write up your ideas and get the undivided
>> attention of at least two reviewers! Please by all means ask questions
>> of the geologists on the list, but maybe those who feel they would
>> like to reply could use some judgment as to whether the rest of the
>> mailing list needs to see their reply.
>>
>> Is there not a group on a social networking website that the free
>> thinkers out there could post their ideas on, and everyone else could
>> send their replies to?
>>
>> I think the recent explosion of wackiness and the plethora of replies
>> that I seem to get warrants everyone taking a moment to think about
>> how they use this list. That way we can all keep enjoying the
>> extremely valuable and useful aspects of Geo-Tectonics without it
>> becoming a massive pain in the inbox.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Steve
>>
>> ---------------------------------------------
>> Dr Stephen Rippington
>>
>> Geologist
>> Arctic Research and Database Project
>> CASP, University of Cambridge
>> 181a Huntingdon Road
>> Cambridge CB3 0DH
>> Email:[log in to unmask]
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
> -------------------------
> Alessandro Maria Michetti
> Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Ambientali
> Università dell'Insubria
> Via Valleggio, 11, 22100 Como
> tel: ++39.031 326231
> fax: ++39.031 326230
> office: +39 3386192982
> personal: +39 3298977014
> http://www.uninsubria.eu/research/chemenviro/cv_Michetti.htm
>
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