From: Billy Brown (ewbrownv@mindspring.com)
Date: Thu Jul 22 1999 - 10:11:36 MDT
Alintelbot@aol.com [SMTP:Alintelbot@aol.com] wrote:
> I'm apparently the only person on this list who _doesn't_ know if the
"Face"
> is artificial or not. Everyone else, it seems, has been there already
and
> subjected the Cydonian enigmas to their own hands-on reality tests. In a
> perverse way, I envy their certainty.
Actually, I think what you've run into here is a perfectly rational
response to a world filled with charlatans. It isn't possible for me to
personally research every unlikely claim that I hear, because there are
simply too many of them. An intelligent, sane person will deal with this
problem by placing all such ideas into a mental holding tank, labeled
"probably false, but I don't actually know for certain", and ignore them
unless clear evidence turns up. He will actualy investigate one of these
claims every once in a while, as a way of keeping his classification scheme
accurate, and he will slowly build up a list of others who he trusts to
accurately assess such claims.
Now, I know nothing about this "Face on Mars business". However, I am well
aware of the fact that you can find any pattern you want to in a
low-resolution photograph if you stare at it long enough. That, plus the
fact that there have been several similar claims about alien artifacts on
Earth and on the Moon (all of which have turned out to be false), leads me
to suspect that these claims will probably turn out to be false. Since the
idea of technological aliens having visited our solar system in any fashion
is itself problematic (it is virtually impossible to construct a scenario
that makes any sense), I conclude that there is no reason for me to invest
several days of my time learning all the details of the theory.
If I happen to be wrong, firm evidence will turn up in time (and the fact
that I dismissed it for a few years won't hurt me). If I'm right, I've
saved myself some time. Either way I'm not going to waste time arguing
with people who believe in the theory (I leave that to the people who have
actually investigated this particular claim).
Do you think there is something wrong with this strategy?
Billy Brown, MCSE+I
ewbrownv@mindspring.com
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