Michio Kaku

EdenHazard

What you guys think of this man?

krd

EdenHazard wrote: »

What you guys think of this man?

Some of the documentaries he's done have been totally and utterly pointless gibberish.

Akrasia

I read Parallel Worlds and I thought it was disappointing to be honest.


Then i read somewhere that he is a proponent of UFOs so now I just don't bother with him anymore

SuperInfinity

Hack.

Marcome21

I like the way he uses his imagination and the way he promotes the possibilities of the Universe to the general public. Opening up the Universe to the general public can only be a good thing. He has certainly got me alot more interested in it.

Marcome21

Akrasia wrote: »

Then i read somewhere that he is a proponent of UFOs so now I just don't bother with him anymore

Why do you dismiss UFOs? Seems a tad insular.

Marcome21

I think this video is inspirational.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TXZegj_7u4

InsideatAnimo

I attended a talk he gave some months ago (Ray Kerzweil was also speaking) and I was very disappointed for two reasons. 1 - the talk was really dumbed down very wishy washy but I guess that could be because it was a public talk not a graduate lecture, and 2 - when I very politely asked him to sign my hardback copy of his The Physics of the Future which I brought along he was about as obnoxiously rude and condescending as it is possible to be.
I have been impressed with some of his tv documentaries of course but I seriously do regret having met him.

IRWolfie-

Akrasia wrote: »

I read Parallel Worlds and I thought it was disappointing to be honest.


Then i read somewhere that he is a proponent of UFOs so now I just don't bother with him anymore

As far as I can see, he's not a proponent of UFOs. Perhaps you have misunderstood his position.

Passenger

Irregardless of whether you agree or disagree with the man it's difficult to argue that popularising science is a bad thing. It's not and it's good to see a scientist doing what he's doing. I read Visions and found it easy enough to digest.

Akrasia

Marcome21 wrote: »

Why do you dismiss UFOs? Seems a tad insular.

I have no problem at all in believing that there are other civilisations out there in the universe who may be more advanced than ours. The likelyhood is given the billions of opportunities for evolution on other planets, there could be a large number of other civilisations.

My problem is Michio Kaku has demonstrated a lack of critical thinking when he declares that because not all 'UFO sightings' are easily explained, that this is any sort of evidence that Aliens are visiting the earth.

He should base his opinion on what the best quality evidence supports, not on what a lack of evidence does not refute.

There is no credible evidence for UFOs visiting the earth. If there was, He should be highlighting this evidence and let the scientific community debate it. Aliens visiting the earth would be one of the most incredible scientific discoveries of all time

IRWolfie-

Akrasia wrote: »

My problem is Michio Kaku ... declares that because not all 'UFO sightings' are easily explained, that this is any sort of evidence that Aliens are visiting the earth.

Where does he state that (for reference)?

Akrasia

Look up Dylan Ratigan of MSNBC interviewiewing Dr. Michio Kaku on youtube. He is discussing a book that concludes that UFOs are real because of the eye witness testimony of US Airforce pilots, generals and other high status individuals. Kaku believes that there are about 5% of sightings that are not easily explained and therefore, the UFO theories are plausible

dadvocate

EdenHazard wrote: »

What you guys think of this man?

I don't think that he is really a scientist.

He seems to enthusiastically support any evidentially unsupported theory that is currently in circulation.

I actually think he is misleading and unscientific in his approach.

I have to wonder if actual scientists respect him and if so, why do they respect him.

I wasted nine minutes of my life watching the video linked above and I thought, yes, if I was trying to communicate with extraterrestials then I would definitely scramble the signal in order to show how intelligent I am in the full expectation that aliens would intuitively assemble the signal as they receive it. Not.:rolleyes: I mean seriously, does he think that aliens are using html or something.

And does he seriously think that humans are incapable of recognising the alien equivalent of a ten-lane super-highway? Would an ant tell another ant that they are part of a category zero civilization and that there may be humans but because they are category three then the ants will never be aware of them? Phooey.

Also, carp exist in three dimensions, not two.

He seems more interested in popularising his beloved m-theory than he is in the scientific method and the achievements made thereby.

Marcome21

Akrasia wrote: »

I have no problem at all in believing that there are other civilisations out there in the universe who may be more advanced than ours. The likelyhood is given the billions of opportunities for evolution on other planets, there could be a large number of other civilisations.

My problem is Michio Kaku has demonstrated a lack of critical thinking when he declares that because not all 'UFO sightings' are easily explained, that this is any sort of evidence that Aliens are visiting the earth.

He should base his opinion on what the best quality evidence supports, not on what a lack of evidence does not refute.

There is no credible evidence for UFOs visiting the earth. If there was, He should be highlighting this evidence and let the scientific community debate it. Aliens visiting the earth would be one of the most incredible scientific discoveries of all time

Circumstantial evidence of UFOs is intriguing. Obviously there is no hard evidence, but there is definitely something going on in our atmosphere which we don't know about.
I think there are life-forms living in our atmosphere, which did not evolve extra-terrestrially, but right here on Earth.

I have witnessed the white orbs in the atmosphere over Dublin and they looked very much alive. Coupled with similar evidence from all over the world, I am convinced that UFO's are very ancient terrestrial life-forms which have out-lived the dinosaur era to the present day.

dadvocate

Marcome21 wrote: »

Circumstantial evidence of UFOs is intriguing. Obviously there is no hard evidence, but there is definitely something going on in our atmosphere which we don't know about.

Circumstantial evidence is too often misleading which is why nothing in science or law is ever decided entirely on the basis of such 'evidence'.

In fact, 'circumstantial evidence' is a term that is applied to that which is often not evidence at all.

For example, a footprint that matches mine being found at a murder scene might be considered as circumstantial evidence but the fact that I was three-hundred miles away at the time of the murder is just evidence.

Capt'n Midnight

dadvocate wrote: »

Circumstantial evidence is too often misleading which is why nothing in science or law is ever decided entirely on the basis of such 'evidence'.

In fact, 'circumstantial evidence' is a term that is applied to that which is often not evidence at all.

For example, a footprint that matches mine being found at a murder scene might be considered as circumstantial evidence but the fact that I was three-hundred miles away at the time of the murder is just evidence.

A murder is a bad example for circumstantial evidence because it's more likely to be used simply because there is no victim testimony to use.

Capt'n Midnight

Marcome21 wrote: »

Circumstantial evidence of UFOs is intriguing. Obviously there is no hard evidence, but there is definitely something going on in our atmosphere which we don't know about.

It depends on what you consider evidence and how you interperet it.

By definition many spy planes are not meant to be identified.

I think there are life-forms living in our atmosphere, which did not evolve extra-terrestrially, but right here on Earth.

Done as the SiFi story Telempath.

I have witnessed the white orbs in the atmosphere over Dublin and they looked very much alive. Coupled with similar evidence from all over the world, I am convinced that UFO's are very ancient terrestrial life-forms which have out-lived the dinosaur era to the present day.

Wishful thinking isn't evidence.

Science is where you make a prediction that can be tested.

I find it impossible to believe that there is another technological civilisation on this planet that has survived for millions of years and yet hasn't completely flipped out at what we've done to the planet since the start of the industrial revolution.

dadvocate

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

A murder is a bad example for circumstantial evidence because it's more likely to be used simply because there is no victim testimony to use.

True.

I was trying to point out that sometimes things ain't what they seem at first glance.

Circumstantial evidence should be treated as suspect by science.

And the musings of Michio Kaku should not be given even that much status.

Morbert

I find him to be quite patronising, which is a common pitfall in the communication of science. But when he gets focused he can be quite compelling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK0Y9j_CGgM