[meteorite-list] OT: the JSE

From: Göran Axelsson <axelsson_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2010 01:58:20 +0200
Message-ID: <4CBB8D9C.10107_at_acc.umu.se>

Rob Matson wrote:
> By the way, the Journal of Scientific Exploration is hardly a "real
> journal",
> so citing it as evidence for the reality of dowsing is a bit of a circular
> argument. Most of the members are strong believers in the reality of ESP,
> astrology, psychokinesis, reincarnation, and similar topics, so the nature
> of the "peer review" at that journal is hardly objective or neutral.
>
> --Rob
>
>

Exactly!

The JSE have also published a lot of articles about dubious subjects.
Loch Ness monster, ESP, ufos, healing, astrology, telepathy.... and so
on. I would say that peer review in this case is at best only a review
by similar goofballs.

They also publish the "EdgeScience Magazine" which in the last issue you
could read this about the Tunguska event.
" At this velocity, no ?thermal explosion??or any other
type of explosion due purely to the kinetic energy of a moving
body?is conceivable. So the TSB?s explosion must have been
produced by its internal energy (chemical, nuclear, or other).
Having at our disposal all this data, we are led towards ac-
cepting Kazantsev?s ?Alien Spacecraft? hypothesis as probably
worthy of further consideration, even if in a modified form.
It seems conceivable that in the morning of June 30, 1908,
two artificial objects flew over Central Siberia and one of them
exploded at Tunguska due to its internal energy."

It would be funny if it wasn't so serious proposed. Science is hard
enough but battling with pseudo sciences too often is only tiresome and
takes time off more important things.

A few days ago Phil asked if anyone had tried dowsing. I have, after a
relative told me to and I wanted to be nice. I tried to keep the pins
immobile and what do you know, when walking straight over an electric
cable.... nothing happened. I felt nothing, expected nothing and got
nothing while he got a result. Funny thing, it was directly between the
lamp post and the house.

As Einstein was dragged into this thread I have to say that our
understanding of the inner working of our nervous system and brain have
advanced tremendously since 1946 and that even I probably know more than
he did in this area (standing on the shoulders of giants). For eight
years I was working as a research engineer in a lab that among other
things measured responses in single neural fibres. We also had a lab
dedicated to interactions between electromagnetic fields and the human
nervous system. Mostly mobile phone exposure, but also static magnetic
fields and electrical sensitivity and we never found any correlations
between perception and exposure. I'm sure that if dowsing had the
slightest truth in it it would have been one of our major research areas.
The major conclusion is that it's all subconscious and that is my
opinion too.

Generally, the problem is that you can never win an argument with
someone believing in pseudosciences. They don't have the training and
mathematical knowledge to accept the proof presented to them. They feel
and believe in something and that is all they need. If presented with a
mathematical proof against their world view they can't take it in and
can't see their errors.
Also, it is a really hard thing to get grants to pay for the research to
refute pseudo science. Most scientists put their work into extend our
knowledge, not battling ignorance, leaving that to the schools.

Btw, I have a MSc in theoretical physics but in that area Einstein beats
me easily.

:-)

/G?ran
Received on Sun 17 Oct 2010 07:58:20 PM PDT