SECTION - VII... MISCELLANEOUS...
--- Miscellaneous ---
Who would have thought?
To think:
I think.
I think;
I think?
I think...
I think__
I think!
RAD 11/03/2008
--- Personal ---
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E-mail communications to and from this site have been a pain to keep working! So if all else fails, and you really need to reach me... go with snail mail:
RAD
P O Box 681
Salome, AZ. 85348-0681
Brief Auto-Bio...
My youth was great... From forth grade up through high school I was in Oregon. Ten acres__ dogs, cats, horses, chickens, out-house, tree houses, hunting, fishing, AM tube radio, baseball, basketball, mountains, rivers, creeks... it was good. Oh, I did have to go to school; I got through high school with close to a -B- average, and didn't work too hard. I also worked back then, at home, and when in the seventh grade, I started shining shoes in a barber shop. The barbers were WWII US Navy vets. I probably learned a few worldly things younger than others my age. I did, "double or nothing", wagering on sports, and especially boxing... I won with Rocky Marciano all the way to the heavy weight championship. I have picked hops, beans, cherries; packed bales of hay; pulled weeds, dug and plowed dirt; and worked in construction all before I was 18. The other side of this is: I had Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, and Advanced Math classes, as well as Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Drafting in H. S. My Mom was an English major in college, and my Dad was a non-degreed Mechanical Engineer (from accelerated schooling during the second world war, while working for Howard Hughes.) My Father had a flair for sketching, and passed that on to me. My Mother's maiden name is Yale... related to Yale Lock, Yale University, British East Indies Company, and one Yale was even there to put the first metal seat on a plow, which was a John Deere. My Great Grandfather Yale was an electrician that worked on the first and second World Expositions (fairs) at Chicago and Saint Louis. And so here I am, 72 years old and working as the plant electrician at a gas & diesel refinery; now, nearly four years.
At the end of my high schooling I enlisted in the US Navy. They sent me to electronics school at Treasure Island, San Francisco. I served aboard the Aircraft Carrier USS Yorktown. After discharge, I was running wild in southern California for about 2-1/2 years, and then re-enlisted in the navy. Again, going to school, I was taught electronic cryptography. This was still the vacuum tube era, learning digital before it was fashionable. I had a top secret clearance, and was attached to Command 7th Fleet aboard the Cruiser USS Providence. Then back to civilian life, wife, kids, and etc. I have worked as an electro-mechanical assembler, electronic technician, engineering technician, electronic manufacturing lead-man, foreman, and electronic production manufacturing manager. I was entrepreneur of my own custom electrical/electronic industrial automation shop, for about eleven years. I received a professional control systems engineering license from California, on a grandfather clause...
I thought about college... even tried it once, taking a couple of night classes. I ended my higher level schooling after being called down, by a professor, who then asked me to prove his quiz question I answered with two answers, due to his grammatical error__ which I had noted on his test__; upon the blackboard for the whole class to see... I did. Ironically, later, I actually taught algebra and basic electronics to radiomen aboard ship in the navy. However, my resume had an empty spot due to no official higher schooling degree... so I took a correspondence course on Law. I have a Bachelor of Laws degree. It was not ever my intent to go into Law, but it was interesting, and after getting into it, I started analyzing it as mathematical logic, or as computer programming logic. Sort of: "if this, then that, or else...". I have been dipped in logic and programming as: Boolean Algebra, digital electronics, computer machine language, assembly language, and other higher level languages. I have been schooled in many industrial training and schooling classes. I have kept up with electronics; after the vacuum tubes, to transistors, to integrated circuits, and etc... And all the while, I have read many, many books of physics, philosophy, mathematics; and pocket novels of adventure, history, science fiction, and who-done-its. If asked who is my favorite author... Thor Heyerdahl comes first to mind. He is an "out of the box thinker", and "hands on, do it" type of person. I must say that I relate to myself as a "blue collar" type of person, but have worked as a "white collar" person for much of my life... however__ if I__ thought up, designed, and drew up something... I could damn well build it, or have it built, and make it work!
Writing an auto-biography is like beating one's own chest; and I am not real comfortable with it, but I am proud of things I have done. Since these writings are technical, some people seem to have an interest, and put stock in a person's intelligence quotient. So, to maybe better explain why I am the way I am... I will tell you, when I was in my early 50's, I qualified, and joined MENSA, mostly just to see if I could. I found it not for me, and dropped out.
A gentleman I met recently, who majored in math at college, asked me why I do this stuff, and for what purpose... I answered: for fun. He really saw no purpose, and I asked if he ever just took a ride for the fun of it to enjoy the scenery... he said yes... but, we never did connect. It seemed to me, he has lost the open unrestricted wonder of childhood. If I had been a bit more keen... I would have used something from Michael Faraday... when confronted similarly... for what use is it? He answered: "...for what use is a new born baby?"
I guess this is a good spot to quit. I do have the trait, of going on, and on, and on...
RAD 12-17-2010
Schools, Colleges, Universities, Academia
Tremaine McDowell wrote about Ralph Waldo Emerson's views on books and colleges... "Books, Emerson insisted more than a century ago, are for the student's idle hours; let him read only when he cannot think for himself. Colleges likewise are secondary or even tertiary for man thinking; they look backward and not forward." Hum... I have an affinity for this line of thinking.
However, recording everything in books is a must for civilization; and without this, we would go back to throwing rocks. I feel it is a must to read books, but a person must truly develop the ability to think in depth; thus he or she reading a book can analyze, and critique at the same time, separating the wheat from the chaff. I have found many scientific books of today appear to be written basically all about the same accepted physics of today, and are paraphrased to suit the current author, probably so he or she gets their name in lights, by being published... with the thought, this will help further their career.
Colleges and Universities for the most part must teach historically, and teach the generally accepted history thinking of the day. If thousands of professors were to become free thinkers, and start teaching whatever they feel like... it would become quite variable as to what students might learn, and leads to quite a quandary; since the civilian workplace uses educational institutes as their measuring sticks. My suggestion is not to change the books or curriculum, but develop, and include classes that are exclusively for teaching how to think. I am amazed and awed at how well some people can quote the bible, recall ancient history, peoples names, titles of books, trivia and etc. But, I think this is mostly memorization by rote. For the most part I don't even try to do this. What I do, however, is try my best to remember, the source of where I found information useful to me so I can return there if needed. I do however use ridiculous association. I believe any person can improve their thinking processes. You probably heard the tale about Johnny being asked for a number that can be evenly divided by two; answering five... he was told this was wrong, but was taught a couple of years later that this was correct. (He may or may not have known earlier.) The point is; the teacher should know. This is not uncommon, and puts a person that knows better, in a position of shutting up to be polite, or trying to correct things, so a wrong won't be perpetuated. The US Navy gave me a test that was given probably hundreds of times to students, and had a question asking which of the following were good electrical insulators. One choice was "water". I knew if I selected water as a good insulator, I'd get the question wrong, but I went for it anyway, because: truly, water as H²O only, as distilled water; is a good insulator. After the test, I explained to no avail. Those students, and instructor probably to his day, think water is a poor electrical insulator.
Closing
I know there are many many scientific people out and about. I know they have lives, and careers of their own, and the odds against them reading this web site are astronomical. And, further I know most of them would think me a quack, paradoxer, charlatan, even a jerk, or maybe a simpleton. And, even if somebody did read my writings, and liked some of it... it would be, most probable, that it would go no further than being read. I will admit that being a promoter is not my forte. I tried writing to about 150 science editors of newspapers... I got one reply, and it was by mistake. I have tried challenging, people with simple questions. I have tried humor. I tried a $200 prize, for people to prove me wrong. Nobody tried, but, I would bet that there would have been more interest, if the dollars went up high enough. I have tried ignorance, and asked questions to things I already knew the answers. I have thought of advertising, and thought of hiring a professional promoter, but it didn't seem right, and I can't afford it anyway. (And, as I write this paragraph; I am a fully aware, I am a grown man, whining like a little boy! But, I'm telling you; if you write something like I have... expect what I mention.)
I do get piqued at times thinking; what is wrong? I actually can prove, ALL, my mathematics using traditional math without any difficulty. I can prove the majority of my physics with tradition formulae, demonstration, experiment, and logic.
I am human and not perfect. In the past, yes, I have have had, some things in error. I found some of these myself, and a couple others were pointed out. I corrected and fixed them. But, for the most part what is amazing to me is: I have not have anyone really have a go at me?! If people don't understand, or can't understand; I am happy and willing to explain.
Yesterday, I was reading on the web site at "nsf.gov National Science Foundation (NSF)." The article was about finding and using a "gravitational lens". I quote: "Because the galaxy in front is so massive, its strong gravitational pull bends the light coming from behind it, creating distorted images of the background galaxy". I really like the web site. I have no problem with the gravitational lens. But, I have a problem with gravitational "pull". There has never been a pull demonstrated without bringing pressure to bear, and that equates to a "push". Also, if analyzed, a "pull" needs to have intimate contact with the item to be pulled. I just feel that this is misleading, and I kind of expect more from official scientific sources. If people get brainwashed into thinking common usage of many words, are true... it seems it narrows the chances of finding the true answer to how gravitation works? In Law, often times, if wording in contracts, writs, and etc., is not correct they get thrown out. Maybe science could be more careful, and specific?
I know I march to the beat of a different drum, but is anyone else out there that can tune into my frequency? Don't send me a quarter to call someone who cares... just tell me who cares... I've got a quarter!
Thank you!
Ron
12-18-2010
