Open Mind vs. Empty Head

For reasons that we don't need to detail, I was doing some online research today on the topic of perpetual-motion machines (PMMs). This bit that I quote below is an excerpt from his answer to the question given, but it conveyed the idea pretty succinctly, I thought. As you might imagine, being an atheistic, gay scientist, I often find myself in the path of "closed-minded" barbs.

Question:
You state repeatedly that the laws of thermodynamics absolutely forbid that a working design for a PMM will ever be presented by anyone. Isn't this being a bit closed minded?
Answer:
I get email to this effect, but it seems that a lot of people fail to distinguish between an open mind and an empty head. Open mindedness doesn't consist of believing in things or accepting ideas because someone has described a thing or presented an idea. Some things don't exist (you might believe in Leprechauns, but I'm waiting for the fossil evidence) and some ideas are just wrong. One often hears that there is always at least a minute chance that an idea might be right. To this I often reply with a request for an estimate of the probability that during the next century it will be found that the earth is flat after all. 1%? 0.1%? 0.01%? I realize that the question is facetious, but it does prevent a silly argument from going on any farther.

Open mindedness simply consists of a willingness to change your mind in the presence of reasonably convincing evidence that you are wrong.

[Randall Woods, "Perpetual Motion Machines: Frequently Asked Questions", c. 1997, accessed 11 May 2009.]

Posted on May 22, 2009 at 18.48 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Common-Place Book, It's Only Rocket Science

One Response

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  1. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Wednesday, 27 May 2009 at 02.08
    Permalink

    All well and good, but knowing what it's like to have a 4-year-old in the home on a cold, rainy afternoon, I'm aware of a close approximation to a perpetual-motion machine.

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