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This attitude reminds me of the story of Mats Järlström who presented a case about Oregon traffic lights being flawed, was written off for not being a professio

This attitude reminds me of the story of Mats Järlström who presented a case about Oregon traffic lights being flawed, was written off for not being a professional, then was proven right a year later. Appeals to authority are never good to do blindly. If different conclusions are reached from two parties, then the conversations must continue if they are legitimately grounded.

wool_gather 7y ago
While I don't entirely disagree, there's a trap here, which is that being open to all comers also allows (sometimes dangerously) time-wasting cranks/fools and trolls/provocateurs through the door. Filtering below "credentialed" but above "Dunning-Kruger" and "willfully misleading" is not simple.
josefx 7y ago
> was written off for not being a professional, then was proven right a year later. He was sued for using the title "engineer" while not being registered as a professional engineer in the state. He still had an engineering degree and the education that came with it. He was only written of since traffic light cameras were a money maker and the times were intentionally short to keep the money flowing. Basically he could have been Einstein himself and would have faced the same road blocks, because the people responsible did not want to hear the truth, their money depended on not hearing the truth. A better comparison for this case would be the story of amateur mathematician Goodwin in Indiana. Whose attempts to revolutionize math were ultimately blocked by a university professor abusing his position as authority figure to coach legislators against redefining PI. Actually it is a nice reversal: Goodwin was a doctor first and self taught mathematician second, and he was in direct opposition to the educated authority on math of his time. Meanwhile now we have a computer scientist and self educated expert on virology contradicting almost every practicing medical professional alive.

wool_gather 7y ago

While I don't entirely disagree, there's a trap here, which is that being open to all comers also allows (sometimes dangerously) time-wasting cranks/fools and trolls/provocateurs through the door. Filtering below "credentialed" but above "Dunning-Kruger" and "willfully misleading" is not simple.

josefx 7y ago

> was written off for not being a professional, then was proven right a year later. He was sued for using the title "engineer" while not being registered as a professional engineer in the state. He still had an engineering degree and the education that came with it. He was only written of since traffic light cameras were a money maker and the times were intentionally short to keep the money flowing. Basically he could have been Einstein himself and would have faced the same road blocks, because the people responsible did not want to hear the truth, their money depended on not hearing the truth. A better comparison for this case would be the story of amateur mathematician Goodwin in Indiana. Whose attempts to revolutionize math were ultimately blocked by a university professor abusing his position as authority figure to coach legislators against redefining PI. Actually it is a nice reversal: Goodwin was a doctor first and self taught mathematician second, and he was in direct opposition to the educated authority on math of his time. Meanwhile now we have a computer scientist and self educated expert on virology contradicting almost every practicing medical professional alive.