(urth) Pike's ghost

[António Pedro Marques]

Sergei SOLOVIEV wrote (29-11-2011 18:49):
> I think that there are still some "minimum requirements" to the people
> who advance an extravagant new theory -
>
> - if they claim that the theory is supported by the text, it would be
> fair to do the work finding necessary quotations, and honestly present
> the context (not to make the opponent to browse the whole book to find
> out that the next sentence to the sentence just quoted is disproving the
> theory)

Something which has happened more than once. But of course that applies only
to the point where there already is an 'opponent'.

> - to be polite, and not to present disagreement as stupidity

Something which happens all the time, usually in the form of sarcasm.

> - not to try to intimidate the opponents presenting their hypotheses as
> common knowledge and consensus

'Pass off as common knowledge and consensus' is also a problem here.