[NBLUG/talk] EMF/EMR (was Re: Sebastopol Downtown WiFi

[Scott Doty]

On Thu, Mar 13, 2008 at 09:22:52AM -0700, Bob Blick wrote:
> I hate to butt in on this type of discussion because I know it can get
> heated, but I feel that your attitude causes just the kind of
> polarization that you are complaining about.

I agree, and that is why I addressed the issue civilly...


> Please try to remember that everyone is different, and it is possible that
> there are physical effects from radio and it only effects certain people,
> and that they are not "at fault". Please try to treat them like people and
> be sensitive to their feelings and issues and also to accomodate them if
> possible. There have been some reasonably-conducted studies that do show
> issues of concern for some people.

Really?  Because everything I've read so far about such studies is a woeful
lack of scientific discipline:  the lack of controls, as well as failure to
use double-blind techniques, is rampant out there on the web.

But how do you go about explaining to people how experimental design needs
to allow for the _lack_ of an effect, too, as well as repeatability by
peers, peer-review, and other such hallmarks of a well-executed experiment?

BUT, I've had these discussions devolve (out on Usenet, etc.) into
claims that "science is a religion", as well as attempts to paint scientific
proponents as part of an evil corporate culture that is hell-bent to deploy
(technology-in-question) purely for a profit motive, with no care to public
safety...

And regarding this, Bob, we all have to agree that civility cuts both ways.
I think the solution, here, is civility, reason, and rationality -- which
means I don't agree with turns such as "tin-foil hat crowd" -- OR "evil
corporate environment destroyers".

> I recently moved here from the town of Mendocino, where this battle was
> fought for several years, and I've seen what can happen when people take
> sides and yell. It gets nasty. You don't want that.

Indeed.

Is that "wacco" list the appropriate venue for civil discussion?

 -Scott