Rrhain writes:
At no time, however, does "grass root lay folks" enter into it. Even if you are an amateur, you still need to know what you're doing. Science isn't something you can "common sense" your way through. Things don't function the way you expect, there are variables that aren't obvious that need to be controlled for, and you always need to be willing to consider the possibility that everything you think you know about everything is wrong.
It is not enough to simply think you know what you're doing. You have to actually show it.
When was the last time you did any original research, Buzsaw?
* "Yes, it is radioactive and you will run a higher risk of cancer some 40 or 50 years down the line, but it is also highly toxic and poison you much more quickly."
1. Rrhain, for your information, some of the greatest technological feats, inventions, accomplishments in the history of the ages has been accomplished by amateurs, btw, who
did know what they were doing, stuff which would never ever have been achieved were it left up to the educated elite.
2. The OP of this thread is relative to Wikipedia and such. Only a small percentage of what we're talking about has anything to do with peer reviews.
3. What has original research got to do with the ability of amateurs to contribute to knowledge and information? Let me ask you some questions. How many watches or clocks have you repaired, having no training for the job? How much of your auto repair can you do after the experts have failed to get it going? Do you know a little trick which will fix the leaky clutch cylinder when the experts say you need a new or rebuilt one? Have you ever repaired a pressure gage which the experts couldn't fix? Do you know how to clean a dirty mirror, window or other glassware without a drop of fluid of any kind, leaving no streaks or film whatsoever? Do you think you could keep yourself and your family well enough via alternative methodology, including removing the aching from teeth, dealing with fever, healing infections, gut problems, back problems, etc without a professional practitioner? Do you think you could become what Rush Limbaugh has achieved on his own?
Are you aware that the majority of the great inventors of the Industrial Revolution in it's earlier stages were non-professional and uneducated in science and technology?
BUZSAW B 4 U 2 C Y BUZ SAW.
The immeasurable present eternally extends the infinite past and infinitely consumes the eternal future.