Re: Do Not Feed the Troll

[Bernard Cleyet <anngeorg@PACBELL.NET>]

"(* There is certainly some value in re-examining our models, but not to
exclusion of using them, getting work done.  And the value is significantly
reduced if the discussion is with someone who doesn't listen to what is said.)" [KC]

I reconsider;  reading replies clarifies (in addition to encouraging).  I think new members may profit, but sufficient is simply to refer, as did JD, [see next] to the A C-B site.



"Sadly, the PV FAQ doesn't deal with any of his misrepresentations of
relativity.  Ideally I would take the time to collect a few messages from the
archives and create a webpage that supplements the one given.  But that would
take time.  I may come back to it someday, but not now." [KC]




Perhaps one of us could do this and ask Athel Cornish-Bowden <mailto:athel@ibsm.cnrs-mrs.fr>

to add it to his site.




bc, lazy








Ken Caviness wrote:

> Quoting Bernard Cleyet <anngeorg@PACBELL.NET>:
>
>
>
> > Not a good idea unless one can slay him.
> >
> > Ken is a new member since our last bout w/ PV?
> >
> > bc, who agrees Ken's excellent comment will only encourage.
> >
> > John Denker wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > > http://bip.cnrs-mrs.fr/bip10/valevfaq.htm
>
>
> Bernard,
>
> No, not new, just misguided, I'm afraid.  If we took the trouble to search the
> phys-l archives we could find the PV's last foray into relativity.  There, too,
> I took the bait.  I apologize to the serious members of this forum for
> having "fed the troll".
>
> My motives, of course, were excellent.  PV's comments and the website he
> directed us to were full of errors.  Some readers might think that our silence
> meant we accepted these views.  Seems to me that that was my thinking last
> time, too.  Hmmm.
>
> But it takes a certain amount of time to compose a message pointing out the
> errors.  It takes time to read the message -- for those who do! -- a great many
> person-hours at least partly (*) wasted.
>
> (* There is certainly some value in re-examining our models, but not to
> exclusion of using them, getting work done.  And the value is significantly
> reduced if the discussion is with someone who doesn't listen to what is said.)
>
> As is pointed out in the PV FAQ to which John Denker kindly included a link
> (quoted above), correcting one of PV's errors has little or no effect on him.
> He repeats the same error or shifts to a different error.  For instance, his
> response to my most recent message ignored a dozen telling points, but trotted
> out a couple of new misconceptions.
>
> It is very hard to sit still and let someone spout nonsense about one of my
> favorite topics, but I can learn, too.
>
> Sadly, the PV FAQ doesn't deal with any of his misrepresentations of
> relativity.  Ideally I would take the time to collect a few messages from the
> archives and create a webpage that supplements the one given.  But that would
> take time.  I may come back to it someday, but not now.
>
> So, faute de mieux, I accept and echo John Denker's dictum:
>
> ++ Do Not Feed the Troll
> ++ http://bip.cnrs-mrs.fr/bip10/valevfaq.htm
>
> All the best,
>
> Ken Caviness
> Physics @ Southern
>
> P.S.  I do agree with Britton's follow-up message that correctly considering
> the paradoxes (long car in short garage, etc.) is a useful learning strategy.
> So some good can come out of the discussion, although the greatest effect for
> our group is, yes, a well-fed troll.  Sigh.