OrionWorks wrote:
I doubt Richard Boyland is performing parody here.
I am sure you are right . . . He isn't.
When his UFO beliefs, particularly his research into the experiencer phenomenon became a tad more well known within the professional community I suspect it pretty much destroyed his professional career.
No doubt. I have mixed feelings about that, for obvious reasons. I think people should allow a professional to have one or two quirks, assuming his judgement about other issues seems unimpaired. On that basis, anti-cold fusion fanatics would allow cold fusion researchers to work in peace.
Boyland comes from the camp that believes aliens are for the most part friendly / benign beings. He also believes the U.S. government is, for the most part, in bed with aliens in order to get alien technology, etc... etc...
This is the craziest of crazy ideas. The U.S. government is flying Space Shuttles for crying out loud. 1970s technology that never worked in the first place, and costs billions of dollars to maintain. If they do have alien technology, they are using it ineptly. As flight director Gene Kranz said in the movie "Apollo 13" after being told about the round filters and square holes: "Tell me this isn't a government operation." They could at least do us a favor and win the war overnight or make Al Qaeda vanish.
Years ago someone here claimed that integrated circuit technology is a gift from aliens. I pointed out that the invention of integrated circuits is well documented, perfectly understandable, and grounded in previous technology -- including some very old technology such as lithography. Plus, I have met some of the people who made important contributions, and as far as I can tell they are fully human, not aliens. Such claims are insipid nonsense. People should at least try to check out the facts and think things through.
- Jed
