Comments on: Anomaly Hunting

By: Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA, Enlarged and Revised Edition - Page 3 - Bad Astronomy and Universe Today Forum

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 04:02:43 +0000

[...] No problem, Torsten. Since taking up photography in the late 1980s, I’ve thought of lens resolution in terms of "line pairs per mm" (lp/mm). Some links: "MTF and SQF: Introduction," by Bob Atkins. "Understanding image sharpness part 1: Introduction to resolution and MTF curves," by Norman Koren. "Lens testing, Line pairs per millimeter and real life results," a photo.net forum discussion. (I think Mark Michaelson is making a funny with his final comment.) Back in April 2009, Steven Novella took issue with anomaly hunters such as Richard C. Hoagland in "Anomaly Hunting." [...]

By: clgood

clgood — Sat, 02 May 2009 06:13:41 +0000

Back in oh, about 1983, Hoagland visited us at the Lucasfilm Computer Division (specifically, the core group that later became Pixar). I was not as skeptical then as I am now and, besides, a lot of what I was seeing every day at work seemed like science fiction anyway. (OK, some of it was science fiction.)

I have to admit that Hoagland was very good, as they say, “in the room”. He had with him the “Face on Mars” image – in digital form that we could see on our spiffy framebuffer, no less – and he could spin a very convincing-sounding story about it. I wasn’t really convinced even then, but he could get anybody, including some of the RSGs (Really Smart Guys) I was working with, at least mulling possibilities.

So I’m not particularly shocked to know that he has “followers” to this day.

By: mattdick

mattdick — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:29:56 +0000

Look, you guys clearly aren’t paying attention to the best evidence Dr. Hoagland has produced: the unnatural geometry. I have proof not only that Iapetus is artificial, but that the entire solar system is an artificial construct! Check out the tetrahedral geometry of the SUN (it’s hard to see given all the chaotic artifacts from the “solar activity”, so I traced the anomaly with a green line):

http://msd.smugmug.com/photos/318358226_n8Jjf-M.jpg

By: rc_moore

rc_moore — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 04:06:30 +0000

Irreducibly Complex = Anomaly

That is the hope of the ID crowd, that something unexplainable will show up. I think they will be waiting a long time.

By: Chris Noble

Chris Noble — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 01:51:28 +0000

Irreducibly Complex = Anomaly

By: rc_moore

rc_moore — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:34:38 +0000

dhawkins1234 said:

how ID proponents claim that ID is falsifiable, and offer up “predictions” like, “if ID is true, then we should see irreducibly complex biological structures.

As you note the “predictions” are always of the sort that a wide variety of “data” can be used to validate the prediction. In the case of the 911 conspiracy groups, one of these is the presence of the chemicals that make up thermite (from the planned demolition of the WTC) — chemicals found in abundance everywhere, so almost any data can be construed as evidence.

By: artfulD

artfulD — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:39:57 +0000

Or like: “If ID is true, there’s no validity to the Baldwin effect, or the synergy between learning and evolution.”

By: dhawkins1234

dhawkins1234 — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 05:12:40 +0000

With regard to anomalies the logic often works like this: “If my pet theory is true then when I look at the data I will find anomalies.”

I was just thinking about how ID proponents claim that ID is falsifiable, and offer up “predictions” like, “if ID is true, then we should see irreducibly complex biological structures.” I didn’t really notice how closely that logic resembled that of anomaly hunters.

By: HHC

HHC — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:04:14 +0000

Could I do the first alien interview? Maybe I could get a state job as a Xenologer I.

By: Watcher

Watcher — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 21:36:06 +0000

(eg Titan, which ought to be much more interesting to the alien-life folks).

*ahem* I think the PC term these days is xenobiologist …