Scholasticism
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Addendum to |
The Catt Question EW Challenge |
Analysis
The
Catt Question Ivor Catt, 3 August 2004 About a month ago, The Catt Question EW Challenge, published on page 57 of
Electronics World aug04, announced a challenge backed by a fund of 2,000
pounds, with the first prize being 500 pounds. Today is about the
date when it will be replaced on the newsstands by the
September edition. I shall discuss my present view as to what will happen. I feel that it is extremely difficult to predict the reaction. Although the reaction may be extreme, it will not follow that that was predictable. It is possible that the seedcorn of one person reacting in one place only in the world will trigger much more. On the other hand, it is quite possible that nobody in the world will be seen to react. In countries like India, where 500 pounds,
the first prize, is a considerable amount of money, it is still uncertain
whether there will be any detectable reaction. In another country, Czech
Republic, where I happen to be this month, the 500 pounds has the
significance that perhaps 3,000 pounds, would have for a student in England
perhaps the cost of subsistence for a year. However, again, that is no
guarantee that there will be any response. The www is readily available in the Czech
Republic, and the published challenge mentions the website, www.ivorcatt.com/44.htm , where the
published challenge is reproduced. Thus, it will be easy for students to
inform each other about it, particularly electronics students. It seems to me
that it would be a natural topic for discussion across the country between
students who happen to know each other, and are at different universities. I think that probably the lambasting that
Catt receives in other letters on the same page; Like many I feel that his
work is insulting, ill informed, badly written rubbish by someone who clearly
hasnt worked for the past fifty years
., will encourage a student after a quick buck. He will believe that
Catt is a sitting duck, and that his lecturer will agree. It might even
encourage the lecturer to stick his neck out. On the other hand, in spite of the massive amount
of effort over decades that has led up to this denouement, it is hard to
believe that the professional scientific juggernaut can be brought low by
such a trivial-looking piece of published text. We just have to wait and see. It will not be
long. Ivor Catt 3aug04. http://www.ivorcatt.co.uk/x6761.htm 3aug05. No student in the
world has had enough courage to send anything in writing to the Editor of
"Electronics World". Ivor Catt March 2018. For a decade, no student in
the world was brave enough to pick up the £500 (GBP) first prize. - Ivor Catt |
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