[extropy-chat] Casimir Torque Project

[Adrian Tymes]

--- Mike Lorrey <mlorrey at yahoo.com> wrote:
> Adrian got started on his project partly to prove me wrong, to prove
> that this list isn't full of do nothings by being one person who is
> doing something. Unfortunately, he has proven me right at least as
> much
> given the number of people who immediately came out with posts
> denying,
> contesting, challenging, or denouncing Adrian and his project.

I haven't seen any posts that I would consider to be "denying,
contesting, challenging, or denouncing" myself specifically, as opposed
to my project.  As to those posts challenging the project - welcome to
normal scientific debate.  This has been nothing compared to what I'll
eventually face in the scientific community - and there will be those
who, even if I have overwhelming evidence (not just theoretical proof,
not just video clips of the device in action, but even if and after I
advance all the way to cheap commercialization where I can build and
sell these things at prices almost anyone can afford), will continue to
reject it.

Hal's arguments, granted, have largely been straw men - but that's not
his fault.  Given as this is a new and strange idea by the standards of
what has come before, the onus is on me to find a way to explain the
idea clearly enough that people don't make the false associations that
lead them to believe that the straw men are real.  (Most of my
audience, I *won't* get to respond directly to.  They won't even state
their questions, just harbor and nurture them where no one else may
perceive them.  So I need to make sure their first impression - which
may be their only impression - is a correct and good one.  This takes
some doing, and refining it by open questioning to highlight potential
misunderstandings appears to be one of the best processes for doing so.
It's actually rather similar to the reason why open source software
works so well, once a project attracts a sizable audience of
developers.)