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From: Daryl McCullough on 1 Aug 2010 22:22
I hope Uncle Ben learns a lesson from this: trying to have a discussion
with Androcles about physics is like trying to befriend a rabid dog. If
you see foam around the mouth, don't give it a pat on the head!

--
Daryl McCullough
Ithaca, NY

From: Uncle Ben on 1 Aug 2010 23:14
On Aug 1, 10:22 pm, stevendaryl3...(a)yahoo.com (Daryl McCullough)
wrote:
> I hope Uncle Ben learns a lesson from this: trying to have a discussion
> with Androcles about physics is like trying to befriend a rabid dog. If
> you see foam around the mouth, don't give it a pat on the head!
>
> --
> Daryl McCullough
> Ithaca, NY

Thanks, Daryl, for the advice, but I had my rabies shots before
engaging Androcles in conservation, and I use hand sanitizer after
every exchange.

Being thus protected, I enjoy teasing Androcles. I enjoy watching him
strut in his arrogance, thinking he has found errors in simple algebra
in the work of the most famous scientist of the last two centuries,
and furthermore priding himself to be the first to spot these "errors"
after more than 100 years since their publication.

He has not only rescued physics from error, in his own mind, but also
mathematics: He has said that the foundations of calculus are rotten
because the definition of the derivative involves division by zero.
He is so confident of this that he refuses suggestions to learn the
concept of a limit or to learn the works of 19th century mathematics
in analysis. No epsilons and deltas for Androcles.

His solution is not exactly to claim the existence of a smallest real
number greater than zero. No, he avoids such a claim by merely
DEFINING such a number. He then hypothsizes its existence, and rebuts
any objection by saying that the objection violates his hypothesis.
Thus Androcles extends the list of fields he has rescued: physics,
mathematics and now logic.

In his own mind, Androcles is, like NoEinstein, the pre-eminent mind
in science today. He grumbles that "everybody and his dog calls it
(the contraction of coordinate distance under the LT) a contraction,"
even after he (Androcles) has shown it to be an expansion.

The fact that his work is unrecognized is blamed on the sheep-like
conformity of almost all scientists in the world to what they learn in
school.

You must admit that this pathological arrogance is a phenomenon in
itself.

It would be easier to pity Androcles if his language were civil. I
should feel guilty at teasing such a handicapped creature. He is also
violently homophobic and anti-religious, which makes it fun to pretend
to come on to him with endearments and with blessings.

So don't worry about my psyche in these exchanges. I am just having
some guilty fun with Androcles. Like PD, I cannot resist playing whack-
a-kook sometimes. It is a form of obssessive-compulsive fascination.

Uncle Ben
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