Russell Standish wrote:
>
>Very good! If we ever get around to making a FAQ for this group, this
>link should be right up front.
>
>Cheers
>
>On Fri, Oct 14, 2005 at 12:18:19AM +0200, Saibal Mitra wrote:
> > You clearly forgot to read this:
> > http://insti.physics.sunysb.edu/~siegel/quack.html
"How to Become a Bad Theoretical Physicist", by Nobel prize-winning
physicist Gerard 't Hooft, is also pretty good:
http://www.phys.uu.nl/~thooft/theoristbad.html
(It's a followup to his page 'How to Become a Good Theoretical Physicist' at
http://www.phys.uu.nl/~thooft/theorist.html )
Some quotes from 't Hooft:
"Here is how to become a bad theorist: take your own immature theory, stop
checking it for mistakes, don't listen to colleagues who do spot weaknesses,
and start admiring your own infallible intelligence. Try to overshout all
your critics, and have your work published anyway. If the well-established
science media refuse to publish your work, start your own publishing company
and edit your own books. Accuse all your critics of the short-sightedness
that you actually suffer too much from yourself. It is easy and pleasant, it
does not require the hard work of checking and re-checking your results, and
if you are sufficiently eloquent, you might even gather some admirers."
"The impudence to attach your own name to whatever you claim to have
discovered is considered improper in science, and in practice it betrays
amateurism and incompetence."
Received on Thu Oct 13 2005 - 19:10:35 PDT