For comparison, this lecture was given at European Mensa meetup in Prague six years ago.
Short version, it “disproves” the theory of relativity by proposing the existence of Global Aether. The theory “avoids quantitative details to keep the difficulty level as low as possible”. It also debunks quantum physics, because quantum physics literally accepts magic, defined as “forces from virtual fields with mathematical properties and without material or tangible cause”. Et cetera.
The really bad part was when I later tried to explain to Mensa members why the lecture was obviously nonsensical, because we already have a lot of experimental evidence in favor of relativistic effects (basically sharing this link and providing a short summary, such as “the GPS in your smartphone must calculate using relativistic equations, otherwise it would give wrong results”), so any alternative theory would need to explain these effects too, not just ignore them and insist on flat space-time.
The consensus of Mensa members was: “He is an internationally respected author who published a lot of books” (translation: He has a website with a list of dozen self-published books), plus the usual arguments that “people deserve to hear alternative opinions” and “according to Popper, scientific theories cannot be proved anyway”. With the recommendation that if I misunderstood something, I should ask the author, instead of wasting everyone’s time.
...so, one of the reasons I don’t go to Mensa meetups, despite technically being a (former) member.
I believe there is a huge difference between “Copenhagen vs MWI” and “relativity vs aether” controversies.
For comparison, this lecture was given at European Mensa meetup in Prague six years ago.
Short version, it “disproves” the theory of relativity by proposing the existence of Global Aether. The theory “avoids quantitative details to keep the difficulty level as low as possible”. It also debunks quantum physics, because quantum physics literally accepts magic, defined as “forces from virtual fields with mathematical properties and without material or tangible cause”. Et cetera.
The really bad part was when I later tried to explain to Mensa members why the lecture was obviously nonsensical, because we already have a lot of experimental evidence in favor of relativistic effects (basically sharing this link and providing a short summary, such as “the GPS in your smartphone must calculate using relativistic equations, otherwise it would give wrong results”), so any alternative theory would need to explain these effects too, not just ignore them and insist on flat space-time.
The consensus of Mensa members was: “He is an internationally respected author who published a lot of books” (translation: He has a website with a list of dozen self-published books), plus the usual arguments that “people deserve to hear alternative opinions” and “according to Popper, scientific theories cannot be proved anyway”. With the recommendation that if I misunderstood something, I should ask the author, instead of wasting everyone’s time.
...so, one of the reasons I don’t go to Mensa meetups, despite technically being a (former) member.
I believe there is a huge difference between “Copenhagen vs MWI” and “relativity vs aether” controversies.
Are you a physicist?
No.