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Originally Posted by AZgazer
LoL, well it seems no one else has viewed this. Not surprising in the least. We were offered as a Club a DVD for viewing. Not wanting to offer the other side a chance we voted ot take a look. The impression I got from the round table post viewing is kinda the same sentiments expressed here. Guess I can chalk this one up to "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."
I did chuckle a little at John Dobson being used as an opinion head in the thoery dept. Unless I missed something, he has no scientific background, just a really nice mount design, right?
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Here's some info on Dobson (from his
homepage bio):
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After completing a degree in Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley in 1943, John took defense-related jobs which he held until he joined the Vedanta Monastery in San Francisco in 1944, becoming a monk of the Ramakrishna Order. He spent the next 23 years in the Monastery. When he joined the Order, known for its intellectual rigor and public service, he was given the assignment of reconcilling the teachings of religion with those of science.
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Doesn't mention what kind of degree. A chemistry background might be useful for persons doing spectroscopic analysis.
However this information from
quanta-gaia.org indicates we're dealing with some unusual viewpoints:
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John Dobson's scientific musings are very thought provoking and, like Einstein's Relativity, require us to re-examine many of our long-held views. While many leading scientists accept the Big Band[sic] model without question, Dobson does not. After examining the theory, Dobson concluded it was fatally flawed and has been debunking the Big Bang ever since. He predicts that the Big Bang will fall out of favor within this decade. In place of the Big Bang, Dobson presents a Steady State model which more accurately describes observed cosmological phenomena. His model does not suffer the flaws of its Steady State predecessors which were popular before the Big Bang theories. The Dobson Steady State model is simple and elegant. It is simpler than the various Big Bang theories and if we apply the Law of Parsimony (aka Occam's Razor), the Dobson model clearly wins due to its greater simplicity.
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Hence his recruitment by the DVD bunch.
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Like many scientists, Dobson is not a materialist. He admits that our desire to view the world as made up of indestructible matter, tiny billiard balls at the subatomic level, is very strongly instilled in us. But he believes that it is a mistake, encouraged by our genetics, to view the world this way. In his view and words, the "Universe is apparitional." For those familiar with the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Dobson's view is that the Universe is similar to a holographic projection on the Holodeck. Objects and people on the Holodeck are seemingly made of solid matter, but that is only an illusion. It is important to note that Dobson himself does not make this Holodeck analogy; he watches very little television and is unfamiliar with the newer Star Trek series.
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So when what the DVD is proposing descends into the murky realm of metaphysics, they've got someone on board who can use all the buzz words.
BTW, there appears to be some confusion as to how long his stay was in the monastery. One bio says 27 years, another 23 years. One other thing, a lot of folks, when they hear "monastery" think "Catholic". Nope. This is a
Vendanta monastery:
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Vedanta is one of the world's most ancient religious philosophies and one of its broadest. Based on the Vedas, the sacred scriptures of India, Vedanta affirms the oneness of existence, the divinity of the soul, and the harmony of religions. Vedanta is the philosophical foundation of Hinduism; but while Hinduism includes aspects of Indian culture, Vedanta is universal in its application and is equally relevant to all countries, all cultures, and all religious backgrounds.
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Since Hinduism is involved here, it wouldn't be surprising if somewhere in the DVD materials astrology reared its ugly head. But you're right, Dobson designed one heck of a fine alt-azimuth mount out of found materials. 8)
PS: I've always been a proponent of the "Big Band". Glenn Miller, the Dorsey Bros., and especially Stan Kenton.
