One of our aims should be to improve our scientific worldview. We should also aim to spread the word out. 

By the way what is "orthodoxy" and what is "free thinking"?

Mano Philips


--------------------­--------------------­----
On Sun, 4/27/14, Hugh <[address removed]> wrote:

 Subject: RE: [physicsnorthyork] Mission statement
 To: [address removed]
 Date: Sunday, April 27, 2014, 8:00 PM
 
 Being open minded can be hard,
 but it’s important.Open minded is not the same as
 gullible and ignorant.In fact, it is quite easy to
 recognise scam artist pseudo-science in most
 cases.It is also worthwhile to
 discuss it, rather than to pretend it does not
 exist.A lot of persons fall for it,
 and are hurt by it.Getting the word out can only
 help.  There is also a lot of bad
 science.And occasionally, extreme
 claims demanding extra solid evidence.Exploring these ideas is
 fun.Debunking them is good mental
 exercise.This can be done following the
 scientific method,with no need to make skeptical
 enthusiasts feel small for entertaining the
 possibilities.  Such is the beauty of science,
 and a main attraction of theoretical physics.  Has anybody seen the new Cosmos
 TV series?Personally, I don’t get much
 from it, other than annoyed by the cheesy special
 effects.I do notice Seth intentionally
 Christian baiting, just because he created the platform to
 do so.How does anybody who remembers
 the Sagan version think the new one compares?  From: [address removed]
 [mailto:[address removed]] On Behalf Of
 David Templeton
 Sent: April[masked]:03 PM
 To: [address removed]
 Subject: Re: [physicsnorthyork] Mission
 statement  You talk as if
 "pseudo-science" can be easily recognized and
 identified for exclusion from the discussions.  This is
 dangerously narrow minded.  Even the mainstream
 theories of cosmology can be argued to be
 "pseudo-science".  We should not prejudge,
 but have the opportunity to discuss everything.  We
 should be allowed to debate whether theories are actually
 getting "appropriate, rigorous treatment" or if
 they are even testable with the "scientific
 method".  If we are to draw boundaries for our
 discussions it should be sufficient to say we only discuss
 "Physics", perhaps with a "focus" on
 "Cosmology".  But it should already be very
 clear what our group is not about!  We we will not
 discuss religion, spirituality, politics, the supernatural,
 consciousness, conspiracy theories, etc.  That fun
 stuff can be discussed in the pub after the meetings.
 
 Regards,
 David Templeton
 
 On 27/04/2014 2:24 PM, Hugh
 wrote:I’d like to see more
 protection against dangerous pseudo-science.Refer­ence to scientific method
 in the mission statement could suffice here.That doesn’t rule out
 discussion of wacky or unproven ideas,it just suggests they get
 appropriate, rigorous, treatment. I am also hopeful that
 occasional reminders of the mission statementwill cut down on the volume of
 arbitrary off topic political and religious
 causesthat keep cropping up in here
 on a regular basis,and sometimes even taking
 over. Thanks everybody for helping to
 promote physics and science in general,and even making it more
 fun! Has everybody tried making
 graphene at home yet? https://www.nature...­ think there’s a video on
 YouTube of doing it in your kitchen blender. https://www.gizmod...­: [address removed]
 [mailto:[address removed]]
 On Behalf Of Dave Noel
 Sent: April[masked]:50 PM
 To: [address removed]
 Subject: Re: [physicsnorthyork] Mission
 statement I like this version. It's a
 little more succinct.   Sent from Samsung
 Mobile
 
 -------- Original message --------
 From: David 
 Date:04/27/[masked]:­19 PM (GMT-05:00) 
 To: [address removed]
 
 Subject: Re: [physicsnorthyork] Mission statement
   Hi Mohsen,Possible wording? "We are a group of regular
 people, some of whom know a lot about physics and
 others who know almost nothing. What we all share is a
 desire to learn more.Fundamental physics forms the
 basis of our discussion. This group is not about things such
 as the supernatural or spiritualism or cosmic
 consciousness. Howev­er, that being said, we do discuss
 ideas that are closely related to physics, but may not be
 part of current orthodoxy." Cheers,D­avid----- Original Message -----
 From: Mohsen To: [address removed]
 Sent: Sunday, April 27,[masked]:11
 AMSubject: [physicsnorthyork] Mission
 statement  Dear
 Friends,We have never established a set
 of objectives for our group. May be this is the time to do
 so. The followings are my thoughts for our mission. 
 “We are a group of non-specialist with a common passion
 for theoretical physics who like to keep beginner’s mind
 and learn from each other while keeping each other’s
 respect.We follow two trends in our
 meetings. First we will follow the accepted physical
 concepts as the basis of our discussions.But then there are
 controversies in the current concepts and many paradoxes
 have remained unsolved. Thereby we also encourage free
 thinking and welcome them in our debates. Challenging
 current ideas and exploring new venues are only eye openers
 and make the debate more interesting for attendees. I
 personally tend to stay more in free thinker’s camp
 despite all of it pitfalls.At no time foul language and
 name calling during debates are
 acceptable.”Of course the above is not
 complete and the issues are for debate. Please don’t
 hesitate to add your inputs. The final version will be
 posted in our webpage as our mission
 statement.Cheers,Moh­sen 
 
 
 
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