what makes him tick.

Tom Brosz said:
"If your granny leaves dead light bulbs in the socket so the electricity doesn't leak out, who's really harmed?"

J-- Then on the other hand, perhaps the granny is smarter than that and leaves the bulb there so that some curious child does not put their finger in a live socket.

T-- "Johannes believes something along the lines of thinking you could overflow Lake Tahoe by peeing in it. Now how many people actually believe that?"

J-- I do not know the condition of Lake Tahoe right now, I suspect that it could use some extra liquid :-)
Then on the other hand, IF a container is so full that you can not put anymore into it, then any extra will spill out.

T--"Is any government or industrial policy currently going to be affected by the idea that our atmosphere is being pooted off into space by background radiation?"

J-- The word "currently" is the key here. If the idea that I am supporting turns out to be correct, then it is the people in the future that will suffer.

T-- "I'm more worried by the pseudoscience or just plain bad science that becomes widespread, and could affect all of us. Creationism. Organic foods. Nuclear phobias. Plain old scientific ignorance. Global warming.* If I start hearing Greenpeace pick this "radiation in the atmosphere" idea up, then you'll have a problem."

J-- The word "widespread" is the key here. If RL was the only person that did not understand the reason why a heavy nucleus of an atom can split apart and release energy at the same time, then I would not be concerned. But the lack of understanding of the subject is widespread and that may create a problem.

Perhaps the global warming is due to......you know what. Has anyone actually studied manmade radioactivity in the atmosphere?

T-- "Pick the hill you want to die on. When something comes up like this, or one of Lindy's gems, if you want, post a neat and accurate refutation (it usually isn't hard) and leave that there for the rest of us."

J-- Good advice for RL. He could also give me the information that I am asking for, or point to a web site where I could get it. I have stated before that, if his numbers would have been collected from actual measurements of the atmospheric conditions, then I would be far more impressed with his abilities in this area of science.

T--"No matter how many times you respond with retorts, until the thread goes off the right side of the screen and into the next room, you aren't going to change the mind of someone fixed on something like this, and it uses up the mental equivalent of your Precious Bodily Fluids."

J-- That advice seems to apply to both sides of the argument.

Johannes