Theos-Talk Archives (July 2004 Message tt00068)

samblo@cs.com wrote:
> Commentary on the Role of Stage Magicians in Biological Research
> http://www.anomalist.com/commentaries/magician.html
Stage magicians are experts on how people might be fooled by frauds. As 
long as scientists are on the up and up, and don't try to fake research, 
then there is no role for stage magicians in science. But when they try 
to defraud the rest of the scientific community, experts in fraud must 
be called in. When it turned out that Dr. Benveniste's experiments, when 
replication was attempted according to his own specifications with his 
approval, were not replicable (as has proven true with several more 
attempts at replication), Nature Magazine rejected the results.

There is an old story about a man who had robbed a bank. He told the 
judge, "If you send me to jail, you will leave my children without a 
father."

The judge replied, "No, YOU have left your children without a father."

Dr. Benveniste has blamed the scientific system that requires 
replication of experiments. He offers no alternative, other than an 
attitude of "I'm better than you! Take my word for it!"

Of course, he's a Frenchman, so that attitude is understandable, as it 
is part of the cultural tradition.

Bart


Bart