[Tasmodevil44]

I would also like to comment on what breakable said about how we should trust the few annointed to run our government and economy and everything else for us :

I agree with breakable for the most part and understand the point he was trying to make. However, democracy performs lousy when people are ignorant and dumb (Radical – WRONG – wing extremist conservative Republicans such as Herbert Hoover and George Bush are evidence of this. So are radical left – wing extremist liberals who are just as equally lame – brained. Truly smart moderates are extremely scarce). The main object of a democracy which performs well is that almost everybody is self – educated and well informed enough to make good decisions……so that almost everybody is annointed. The lessons of history should have taught us all too clear by now what can occasionally happen from time to time……when the vast majority of dumb and blind sheep place too much trust and blind faith in so – called ” annointed ” dictators like Hitler and Stalin.

However, I must definitely agree with breakable that rare nuclear physics talent like Lerner is truly annointed, and I still hope for enormous success with focus fusion. Because I still think that maintaining an open mind of optimism and visionary thinking plays a bigger role in critical thinking, as well as advances in our physical knowlege and understanding than many people think.

[Tasmodevil44]

In the State of Pennsylvania where I’m at, we have this very nasty silkworm creature ravaging our forests……they devour everything in sight. I’ve been told that this was a terrible scientific mistake gone awry. The Chinese silkworm was imported into this country and crossbred with a local species of caterpillar in the hopes of boosting silk production. Ooops ! The thing escaped from the laboratory and is now causing a major ecological catastrophe. Not even the most brilliant scientific expert from Harvard or Princeton or any other highly prestigious credentials could have forseen this ever happening.

The point is, I don’t completely trust the imperfect humanity of the scientific priesthood religion much more than Noah’s Ark religion. Always, always,always……question authority……including scientific authority. And after you’ve got the facts……it does’nt hurt to double – check the facts to be sure they’re truly factual. Because there’s a certain degree of uncertainty to reality itself.

[Tasmodevil44]

Is there such a thing as absolute physical constraints ?

Absolutely. For example, the velocity of light is an absolute physical limitation (as far as we know……some theoretical physicists have contemplated various ways to circumvent this problem so that interstellar travel to the stars may be within our grasp. Such as a spacecraft enveloped within some kind of space – time bubble that allows warp speeds without relativistic effects. But all this is still very sketchy, speculative, controversial and highly theoretical Sci – Fi yet to be proven). Even within the mainstream science community, such crackpot notions get more serious attention……if it’s coming from somebody highly respected with great credentials within the mainstream scientific community……rather than an ordinary layman.

Another absolute physical limitation is the finite size of planet Earth itself. No amount of open – minded thinking and new technological innovation will save us……not even focus fusion……if our species continues to breed and multiply like a swarm of destructive locusts upon the planet. The pessimistic predictions of Malthus may still turn out to be true in the long – run. No amount of thinking outside the box or any new advances will necessarily prevent us from going the way of the dinosaurs and many other extinct species……if our own population is not held in check.

It can sometimes be a grave mistake to dogmatically worship the scientific priesthood as the new religion, too. This arrogance in thinking we can improve upon nature often has nasty unintended consequences. It has also been said that : ” Logic and reason is the art of going wrong with confidence.” How true. This is not a slam against science and technology……or it’s attempts to create a better world……I’m all for it……but just a balanced and fair – minded observation.

[Tasmodevil44]

And furthermore, most of the closed – minded arrogance in the mainstream science community these days is based upon the premature assumption that everything has done already been discovered……that nothing else new out there awaits our discovery. This premature assumption may or may not be true. Throughout the long history of science and technological advance, this assumption has already been made many times before……oftentimes turning out to be false. When considering the mainstream science community’s own lousy track record in the past in believing that all major discoveries have done been made, it just might still be possible for a major discovery to unexpectedly pop out of the blue.

It could mean instead that all the EASY discoveries and innovations have done been made……that the going will be more slow and difficult from now on. Just about anybody can invent something as simple as an old – fashioned paperclip by bending a piece of wire. But what about something as complex as a nuclear reactor or a rocket engine ? This poses a whole different level of daunting engineering challenges.

[Tasmodevil44]

Science and technological advance has always required……and always will require……a balanced combination of both open minds and conservative pragmatism / skepticism ( What makes anybody think that stubbornly arrogant and closed – minded individuals will accept scientific facts and evidence any more than pseudoscience ? Some of today’s crackpots may be tomorrow’s visionaries). Admittedly, most hair – brained ideas outside the box simply will not work……it takes the process of logical elimination to narrow things down to the few that will work. Even if only one out of a thousand wacky ideas turn out to be a huge success, then the other 999 failed attempts is still well worth it.

[Tasmodevil44]

Rezwan;

I’d like to read that book. Sounds like some very interesting reading. The fact that there’s always a tug of war between innovation and conservatism is the reason why you always need a balance between open – mindedness to possibilities…… and yet at the same time skeptical in wanting to back everything with facts. The path to scientific progress is indeed a bumpy road of uncertainties and human nature where the scientific method is not always truly used the way we always think we are using it. I’ll have to look for that book by Henry Bauer at the local library or on the internet someplace.

[Tasmodevil44]

I also wonder about some type of glassy metal version of copper. Would a glassy metal version of copper also work about as good as shock treated nanocrystalline copper ?

[Tasmodevil44]

And of course, in the case of guilty bad guys like O.J. Simpson and the murders that he committed, you can have just plain denial of overwhelming evidence.

[Tasmodevil44]

In some cases it may be rational to consider lack of evidence the same as disproof, and in other cases it may not be……just plain closed – mindedness on the part of extremely arrogant conservative individuals……depending on the type of situation. This is why the justice system does not always work and bad guys get away with crimes……nobody can prove their guilt……or innocent people get punished instead……because nobody can prove their innocence.

[Tasmodevil44]

Perhaps if you could bombard an ordinary C12 carbon atom with some kind of exotic subatomic particle that acts like a catalyst……or even a particle of anti – matter coming in contact with a stable atom like C12 might partially annhiliate it’s nucleus……and excite and destabilize the rest of it enough to break apart. It’s unlikely that such a new exotic kind of nuclear energy could be made to work. But you sure could get one heck of a lot more energy out of a lump of coal than to burn it the conventional way ! ! !

[Tasmodevil44]

I would also like to make another important point:
While nobody should have to believe anything without evidence……just like the YouTube video states……it can be equally arrogant and closed – minded to go around disbelieving anything and everything just because of a lack of evidence. Because in some cases, a lack of evidence does not necessarily mean it’s false or not true, either.

In some cases, it may be better to take an ” I’m not sure ” type of neutral position of neither believing nor disbelieving……until more conclusive evidence can be found.

And NEVER assume anything. You should never make assumptions you may come to regret later on. Ever wonder why ASSUME is spelled the way it is ? First of all, you’ve got the first three letters which spell ” ASS “. This is followed by the letter ” U “. And finally, the last two letters spell ” ME “. This is because to assume things makes an ass out of you and me ! 😆 :cheese: 😛

As far as religion and the Hebrew god is concerned……and patently absurd claims like Adam and Eve, Noah’s Ark, or that the world was created in only six days……it’s not so much the lack of evidence for his existence that disproves his existence……so much as all the conflicting scientific facts, evidence, and rational thought processes WE DO HAVE which casts doubt on his existence.

[Tasmodevil44]

Let us also keep in mind that sometimes what is or isn’t sufficient evidence is often in the mind of the closed – minded beholder. A closed mind will always consider /or not consider what evidence they want to consider.

Not only is seeing believing, but the opposite can also be equally true. In other words, believing can be a way of seeing.

A stubbornly arrogant and closed – minded person will often continue to stubbornly deny /ignore evidence even when it is provided for them and placed directly under their nose. It often takes an open mind to acknowlege evidence and recognize it for what it is even when it’s present. It can be sort of like the old saying about leading a horse to water, but still can’t make him drink. The definition open – minded means just exactly that : you have to be willing to intellectually seek evidence …. rather than throw the off – switch to the brain and deliberately quit thinking …. because of preconcieved dogmas that have already got your mind ” made – up “. Not only is pseudoscience like religion and witchcraft like this, I’ve also seen the same type of critical error in reason within the mainstream science establishment occasionally from time to time.

I guess the main concept here is whether somebody is willing to place too much faith in something ” pre – evidence ” , as opposed to not wanting to believe something even after ” post – evidence “. Once again, I recommend a healthy balance of both faith and skepticism when it comes to the scientific method of critical thinking.

[Tasmodevil44]

Jimmy T, you hit it right on the nose in comparing tokomak to a big money devouring black hole. I think President George Bush wasted 3 billion on the ITER (although I may be wrong). Someone once joked that the Russians gave us tokomak so that we would not succeed.

When it comes to top candidates, I think the cube – shaped device of magnetic coils by Bussard and his team showed great promise. It was already producing something like 20,000 times more fusion reactions than the best Farnsworth fusor device. But then the Pentagon killed funding just as it was starting to show great promise. This is typical of government and your taxpayer dollars at work …. too much stop and go funding instead of anything ever being consistent.

[Tasmodevil44]

The biggest mental block that causes skepticism about cold fusion is the coulomb barrier of electrostatic repulsion between two nuclei. They stubbornly refuse to get very close to each other. This has always implied the necessity of tremendous temperatures and pressure. However, there may be the possibility of quantum mechanical tunneling past the repulsive barrier. It has been known ever since way back in the late 1950’s and early 60’s that there is no exact threshold temperature in which fusion begins to take place. But instead, fusion reactions begin to steadily increase over a wide range of temperatures. Only quantum wave mechanics can best describe such phenomena. A key to lower temperature fusion would be some type of quantum mechanical tunneling catalyst to help increase the odds of reactions.

[Tasmodevil44]

Speaking of iron, while we’re on the subject, I would also like to mention that I actually do have more faith in Einstein’s famous formula E = MC2 than in the binding energy curve dogma. So long as something has mass, it’s still theoretically convertible to energy. The binding energy curve dogma only applies to conventional nuclear reactions of both fission and fusion. But what if some exotic new kind of nuclear reaction was to render the binding energy curve irrelevant ? For an example, if anti – matter was to come into contact with ordinary matter, how much you want to bet that mass annhiliation might occur anyway, no matter what?

Always, always, always …. keep an open mind to unlimited possibilities. But yes, it still must always be backed by FACTS and EVIDENCE. What I’m about to say next may sound like a contradiction, but I think that a true scientist must be an open – minded skeptic /cynic. You need a healthy balance of both.

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