[meteorite-list] One last try

From: Matson, Robert <ROBERT.D.MATSON_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 09:54:00 2004
Message-ID: <AF564D2B9D91D411B9FE00508BF1C8698E5983_at_US-Torrance.mail.saic.com>

Hi List,

Dear George -- patience and tolerance are virtues, but you are
really too kind with Mohamed. While Mohamed's rock photography
is far better than the offerings of your typical meteorwrong
peddler, and his commitment to spending time in the field is
commendable, these positive qualities are overshadowed by his
unwillingness to take ~solicited~ advice from world experts.
You wrote:

> I happen to think that you may find one eventually.

As the saying goes, a blind squirrel will still find an acorn
every so often. Unfortunately for Mohamed, his credibility
drops with each posting, and if on his 1000th message he
should finally post an image of an actual meterite, will anyone
still be listening to the man who cried wolf?

There is a balance between education and field work; if you
spend all your time reading about meteorites, mineralogy,
petrology and geology, you may become an expert at recognizing
a meteorite when you see one. But without spending some quality
time in the field getting hands-on experience, you have no real
hope of finding a meteorite yourself. The same is true for the
opposite extreme. Mohamed has seemingly boundless energy when
it comes to field work, but his efforts are largely wasted
because his recognition skills are still quite poor.

If you read through all his posts, you'll notice that he
asks plenty of questions, but he never seems to listen to
any of the replies. List members might be more forgiving
if just once he would say something like, "I decided to take
so-and-so's advice and bought a book on rocks and minerals.
Now I see why everyone said my earlier specimens were
obviously earth rocks. If only I had picked up this book
earlier, I might have actually found something by now."

Last year my wife found her first meteorite after less
than 20 hours of searching -- not because she was lucky,
but because she was willing to be taught. She learned how
to instantly recognize olivine basalt, hematite and
magnetite, and thus ignore them.

If Mohamed would take just one piece of new advice, I
believe he could multiply his success chances a thousand-
fold: buy an inexpensive Saharan H5 or L6 meteorite and
take it with you on your meteorite hunting trips. Every
half hour or so, take it out of your pocket, look at it,
and say to yourself, "THIS IS WHAT I'M LOOKING FOR."
You need to train your brain on a proper search image,
and give it frequent reminders. Without this kind of
positive search template, as a novice you will become
unfocused and revert to seeing meteorites everywhere
you look.

Probably beating a dead horse,
Rob
Received on Mon 04 Feb 2002 01:37:11 AM PST