Propeller Head Plaza Technical and scientific discussion of amps, cables and other topics.

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Re: Can I plead for a cessation of personal attacks.

Posted by tomservo (M) on April 9, 2007 at 08:36:39

In Reply to: Can I plead for a cessation of personal attacks. posted by May Belt on April 9, 2007 at 03:07:32:

Hi May

Freedom of speech is a great concept but to the degree that one needs more than a fruit box to stand on to address the crown, freedom of speech is purchased.
Also, we have the PC movement composed by well meaning Liberals dedicated to the proposition “that by force of will, one can pick up a dog turd by the clean end and smoke it like a fine cigar and you are a backwards fool for not agreeing with my enlightened viewpoint”
Thus, we have plenty of relevant subjects which are, to save someone’s feelings, off limits.

I find personal attacks unpleasant and think there are unnecessary if you actually have a valid point to make.
People on line are seemingly less and less able to deal with the freedom they do have, perhaps by being out of practice in face to face discussions, there have been many mean spirited insulting posts that say more than not proving the validity of the point.

In fairness however, I would point out that both Lister’s proclamation “let us spray” before surgery and the discovery of the real source of Cholera, were both “Scientific” discoveries. Snow found the well and deduced the source by statistical analysis and Lister found the Germ killing agent when he observed the effect in a microscope (boric acid I think) slide.
Both of these things had clear cause – effect mechanisms that were totally consistent with science method at the time although both were unknown.
That makes these things rather different than some of the products in hifi.

Further, outside the world of hifi, in fact essentially in every other area of human sensation, it is well known that people’s consciousness is made up of sensations from all the sense as well as knowledge and subconscious.
Thus, in every area outside hifi, when it is desirable to refine the action of a drug, a political speech or commercial, or flavor etc, Blind testing has proven to be an effective way to remove / reduce the inputs from the uninvolved senses.
For example, if tasting coffee’s, one wouldn’t want to see that one is very dark while the other is light or which pots they came from.
The issue is in these other area’s of human perception, these things are well known and even exploited on TV to sell more effectively or condition you. How people react and manipulation is a high art now both in selling and gov’t.

Back in hifi, suspiciously, the people that are usually the most against the idea of blind testing, are involved selling or promoting (or have purchased) products, which could fit under the blind test umbrella.
Unlike Lister and Snow, these folks seem to bristle at the idea that testing might reveal anything useful.

I don’t know about your products, but I have seen hifi doodads that I would at least suspect as containing long-chain molecules, the triple distilled extract of a highly linearly enhanced reptilian specie, harvested and processed under ambient lighting during a full moon..
Best,

Tom

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