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Dick,
I deeply regret your absence here. It's nice to know you're still around, and it's always a pleasure to read what you write.
That said, I'm still cynical. I think you are a great critic, the best critic of science I ever saw, probably the best I'll ever see in my life. Your arguments are sharp as needles and your reasoning solid as iron. That alone makes you special.
However, like any good critic, you often place yourself above the ones who disagree with you. I found the way you dealt with Harv particularly disappointing. I used to think Harv was a fool, today I know he's a very special person who has as much a hard time being understood as yourself. I think you could only learn from him, and he from you, but whereas I've seen him devote a lot of effort to try and understand where you are coming from, I have never seen you do the same.
It's funny that you keep saying that you would like to meet someone who were capable of criticizing your work, while at the same dismissing any serious criticism from anyone. Sure, I agree with you that a lot of what's been thrown at you was nonsense, I have followed many of your discussions and often shook my head at the gross misunderstanding most people have of the way things are. But I have seen, not too often but often enough, people say things that I believe deserved some serious thought from you, and your reaction is always to dismiss it.
The latest example, and I think the worst case, was when you refused to rename your set of numbers as R1 instead of reality. I think it was, to my knowledge, the most sensible thing anyone ever said about your work. I found it interesting that you refused to accept it without giving good reason. In my opinion, you foresaw the trouble it could create for you.
Anyway, I don't know why I'm writing all this, I'm still your fan. I guess I just want to clear up this Dick-apostle thing which is quite embarassing :)
Have fun |
