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Re: Several comments…

"Yes this is what is so interesting. Not so much what I have said but that you seem able to hold a view that you know is against scientific reasoning and yet want it to be supported by a scientific explanation."

Hmm…

I've actually done some research and had it published, but in a very different field. I don't claim to be an electronics expert. I do know how hard it can be to prove something and I'm quite happy about the fact that the standards of scientific proof are quite rigorous, and I tried to comply with those standards in the research I did. I do try to be equally rigorous about examining my own perceptions when I think I hear something in my system.

I also know that science exists to explain what we observe - not to tell us what we must observe. I accept that our observations are sometimes mistaken and I think that science should be able to give reasons for those mistakes when they occur.

But, as I said, I do hear something with cable elevators under certain conditions. It seems to be dependent on floor covering and it seems to be dependent on the cable. If I'm mistaken, then it's a strange error - not the so called usual audiophile one of consistently hearing something that isn't there. So, while I could be mistaken, I'm inclined to think there's a little less chance of that simply because of the consistency of the pattern as to whether I hear something or not. I happen to think it would be nice if I heard something when they are used with my current cables but, as I said previously, I don't.

Since I happen to be faced with the fact that I do think I hear something under the conditions that I've mentioned, I naturally have wondered why that is the case and what could cause that pattern of observations. I haven't been able to come up with a reason which would explain the pattern in my thinking that I hear something if I actually am mistaken when I think I hear it, and I do happen to have a major in psychology in my undergraduate degree and my wife was a psychologist. I'm not totally ignorant about the causes of error. On the other hand, I've also tried to consider what explanation could account for what I hear if I happen to be right in my perceptions. The only thing I've been able to think of is electrostatic charges and I said that was the only reason I could think of. If the elevators actually do something, then they may well do it for some totally different reason.

I don't need to support my view that I hear something under some circumstances with a scientific explanation. If there was a scientific explanation that we were all aware of, you wouldn't be asking me to support my view. If I happen to feel the need for further support for my view that I hear something, I'll try and repeat my observations. I'll listen again over time with different cables and try taking the elevators to some friends homes to try them with different floor coverings since I don't intend changing the carpet in my current house just for a test. The reason I'll try and repeat my observations is that I haven't come across a scientific explanation for why they work, and I've never seen one from the manufacturer. Once again, I'd have no need to support my view if there was an accepted explanation.

Lack of an explanation doesn't mean that something doesn't work. Explanations don't make something work - they explain why it does work, and things that do work will continue to work regardless of whether or not there is an explanation and also whether or not any explanation given is true or false. The fact that something does work isn't enough in itself to guarantee that the explanation given for why it works is correct.

On the other hand, explanations for why things shouldn't work are a lot more messy. Such explanations can also be right or wrong. The explanation could be wrong and the thing may not work for a totally different reason, so the fact that something doesn't work doesn't guarantee the correctness of any explanation for why that should be the case. On the other hand, if the explanation is correct, it's often only correct under certain circumstances and the thing may actually work under other circumstances. It's actually quite difficult to come up with an explanation for why something can't work - period - because you have to be able to prove that that explanation is correct under every circumstance. That's particularly hard to do.

So take all of that where you will. At present I happen to think that there may be something that I hear under certain circumstances and I simply offered an opinion on what that was. I'm happy to consider reasons for why I could be mistaken. I have considered some in the past and I'm still prepared to consider some but if you offer a reason, you better be prepared to offer one that accounts for the pattern in when I think I hear something and when I don't. Don't bother to try presenting a reason that doesn't take the pattern into account because a reason that doesn't do that simply won't explain what I think I hear and when I think I hear it. And don't bother to simply say as you have that it doesn't comply with scientific reasoning unless you can show that there is absolutely no possibility of there being a scientific reason that you haven't considered. Scientific reasoning exists to explain observations - observations come first. We don't adjust our observations to conform to reason - we use reason to ensure that our scientific explanations conform with the facts of our observations.

So I suggest we just call an end to this discussion unless you've got a reason to offer for why I might be mistaken and why I make the mistake in the particular pattern in which I make it, and you're also prepared to seriously entertain the idea that the person mistaken may be you.

David Aiken


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  • Re: Several comments… - David Aiken 14:33:23 11/13/05 (0)


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