Mar 22, 2011
The fraudulent invention debunkifier
Debunking crackpot and fraudulent inventions has never been easier than now thanks to the world-shattering invention of the Crackpot Flowchart(TM) from Sciencebase. Based on the 13 unlucky-for-crackpots warning signs published some time ago on ka9q.net, this handy multicoloured flow chart lets you assess that recent email touting the latest ground-breaking breakthrough invention.
The Crackpot Flowchart(TM) will let you know in an instant whether the invention being touted is not only earth-shattering but whether it will rock the very foundations of modern science itself. No more worrying that you missed out on a Pulitzer, kick the frauds and the deluded into a cracked pot and save the real breakthrough for a sneaky call to the newsdesk at Science and Nature.
As a bonus, just swap out invention for theory to test whether that email is from the next Albert Einstein or the next Peewee Herman.
Flowchart originally drawn using Gliffy.com
If I look at the guide to a crackpot and imagine a certain astronomer was being tested by it, I come up with the idea that Copernicus was a crackpot.
Fortunately, people do not live in fear for their lives now if they have a theory that differs greatly from the mainstream view, so they have no reason other than fear of being disproved of to hide from their peers.