Disinvited to a physics conference for belief in paranormal

[No_Baseline]

17breezes. This may be as wild a claim as your posts on this site re: Jews, but I have to ask - are you Jack Sarfatti? I have followed some of Jack's responses on other sites/threads, and I have to say, the language is an awful lot the same.

If not, okay, but can you please set the record straight?

[17breezes]

17breezes. This may be as wild a claim as your posts on this site re: Jews, but I have to ask - are you Jack Sarfatti? I have followed some of Jack's responses on other sites/threads, and I have to say, the language is an awful lot the same.

If not, okay, but can you please set the record straight?

No. Would be neat for awhile tho. to have that exquisite mind for a bit.

[Joe Hillshoist]

Over in the Did NATO invent the "ash cloud"? I said this:

There are things in this universe that are impossible to explain rationally, and yet they exist.

The quantum concept of superposition is only one such idea, but it opens a trillion doors to possibilities about our existence that can't possibly be proven with scientifically verifiable evidence.

Does that mean that we should stop looking at the quantum world?

I often think that one of the main purposes of the scientific method is to ensure that creative thinking that threatens the status quo is always frowned upon.

But I'm also crazy enough to entertain the idea that the Norway spiral wasn't an out of control Russian missile, so...

That all applies here, too.

Doesn't that apply to everything?

[Bruce Dazzling]

Over in the Did NATO invent the "ash cloud"? I said this:

There are things in this universe that are impossible to explain rationally, and yet they exist.

The quantum concept of superposition is only one such idea, but it opens a trillion doors to possibilities about our existence that can't possibly be proven with scientifically verifiable evidence.

Does that mean that we should stop looking at the quantum world?

I often think that one of the main purposes of the scientific method is to ensure that creative thinking that threatens the status quo is always frowned upon.

But I'm also crazy enough to entertain the idea that the Norway spiral wasn't an out of control Russian missile, so...

That all applies here, too.

Doesn't that apply to everything?

Perhaps it applies to everything, as you've indicated, but it REALLY applies here, as this thread is specifically about a scientist being marginalized for non-status quo thinking.

What was your point in making this response, Joe?

[justdrew]

Editor's note: Jack Sarfatti has contacted Times Higher Education to clarify the content of his emails to Mike Towler. He said that references to the possible involvement of “intelligence agencies” were not references to the CIA. THE is happy to clarify that Dr Sarfatti does not believe that Dr Towler was in the pay of the CIA.
source

and...

# Mike Towler 29 April, 2010

Just to clear up one particular point. Sarfatti says:

"Please issue a retraction. I never wrote or implied or believed that Towler was in the pay of the CIA."

and

"It is clearly designed to make me look like lunatic conspiracy theory fool."

I've had a policy of not commenting publically on any of this crap, because I have some dignity. Instead I'll just pick a representative sample of Sarfatti quotes from some of the 100s of emails he has sent out to a good proportion of the world's population (in only 1 week!), and you can judge for yourself whether he's a 'lunatic conspiracy fool' or whether he thinks intelligence organizations are involved. (As this is a respectable publication I won't include the disgusting foul-mouthed quotes).

"This Bohm meeting was my brain child to begin with and Valentini needs to learn not to mess with the Zohan!"

"If it's a hoax it was carefully planned - probably by an intelligence
agency of some government or 'a malevolent fairy.'"

"It's obvious sabotage by anti-Bohmian agent provocateur infiltrators who have poor Valentini under control."

"There is also the obvious military significance of signal nonlocality in
non-equilibrium post-quantum matter."

"Seriously, Valentini's work, my work et-al all have very glaringly
obvious national security implications and is of interest to Intelligence
Agencies. That's a fact and that's why there is more to this case than meets the eye."

"Then the usual politics from a$$holes who control Valentini's and I guess Towler's future job prospects at Perimeter I think"

"Can Mike Towler be such a pushover and Valentini such a rude insensitive little prig?"

"Recourse to a solicitor is psychological pressure on Valentini, who after all is an impecunious party on a low-level pittance at Imperial College and my friend Uri Geller has graciously given me the time of his solicitors in London who will advise me on how to proceed later today if Valentini does not cave in."

"It would be good to settle this amicably before it is too late - for
Valentini that is."

"Working on my Amazon Review The book Valentini advertises below is a musty un-inspired boring reprise of heavily trod well-known material."

"The intelligence agencies of all the major powers are very interested in this kind of new physics, a fact that adds a surreal X-Files Twilight Zone Outer Limits cloak and dagger dimension to this whole affair."

"I was just about to arrange for a multi-million pound grant to Towler for his Institute, obviously I will not now proceed with my fund-raising there."

Damn it. I could have been rich.

And for what it's worth, the reason Jack was uninvited was stated by Valentini to be that "despite [Jack's] passion for theoretical physics", he failed to "adhere to high standards of argument and of presentation". Now this was definitely a euphemism, but not for 'believing in the paranormal'. Count his published papers.

Note finally:

"Re the conference, if I do come then people ought to be properly
educated, maybe by including a talk by a parapsychologist explaining why almost certainly telepathy etc. are real. Then people can have the real physics to talk about not the sanitised, politicised version." [B. Josephson]

This conference is not, repeat not, about the paranormal. It is not about zoology. I didn't invite any paranormal investigators for the same reason I didn't invite any zoologists (and needless to say, neither Jack nor Brian were formally invited - they asked me if they could attend, which is very different).

To all the people who've been enjoying this foul-mouthed campaign of lunatic harassment which is inciting crazies from around the world to threaten my family and that of Valentini, then shame on you. If like me, you're feeling a little bit disgusted, then apparently Jack has recently started honouring requests to be removed from his mailing lists.

[Joe Hillshoist]

Over in the Did NATO invent the "ash cloud"? I said this:

There are things in this universe that are impossible to explain rationally, and yet they exist.

The quantum concept of superposition is only one such idea, but it opens a trillion doors to possibilities about our existence that can't possibly be proven with scientifically verifiable evidence.

Does that mean that we should stop looking at the quantum world?

I often think that one of the main purposes of the scientific method is to ensure that creative thinking that threatens the status quo is always frowned upon.

But I'm also crazy enough to entertain the idea that the Norway spiral wasn't an out of control Russian missile, so...

That all applies here, too.

Doesn't that apply to everything?

Perhaps it applies to everything, as you've indicated, but it REALLY applies here, as this thread is specifically about a scientist being marginalized for non-status quo thinking.

What was your point in making this response, Joe?

No particular point actually. It just struck me that what you said does actually apply to everything.

I think I may have been reading a column where an Australian media troll was criticising Stephen Hawking for his comments on aliens (referenced on this thread) being a potential threat to humanity, just before I saw your thread.