The Fetzer Challenge

[Greg Burnham]

As one who considers Jim Fetzer among my closest friends and collaborators I found it difficult to write what I did early in the thread. The reason for this is because Jim is not only a treasure to me personally, but a treasure to the research community in general. In the past I have been accused of siding with him BECAUSE he is my friend, which is simply impossible for me to do. It is not how I work.

There are various topics that Jim has extensively researched, but I have not. I therefore remain mostly agnostic about those because I am unable to endorse them due to my not being qualified to render an informed opinion. However, it would be equally inappropriate for me to dismiss his findings for the same reason. I would only be competent if I actually put in the time and effort to thoroughly investigate the subject, which I am unwilling to do.

I regret my comments earlier referencing "desperation" because, taken out of context, it could easily be misinterpreted. The connotation that I was intending to convey was linked to Jim's presentation of his case and not the actual case itself. I have an informed opinion regarding tact, but not about all of his studies. In fact, even that could be clearer. It is mostly Jim's brashness that I see as coming across rather desperate. His presentation of the material itself is not.

Charles, I fail to see the point of the challenge, though. Truth is not decided by a show of hands...not in Galileo's day and not now.

Sheesh I dunno about the treasure part. But man I'd be worried if you were palling around with Cinque dude. But good on you he needs a friend at the mo.

My friendship with Jim is not related to any relationships he has with anyone else, including Cinque. I have no idea about that dude whatsoever. While it's true that Jim and I share several close friends (David Mantik, John Costella, Jack White, and the late Rich DellaRosa, Chauncey Holt & Doug Weldon, among others) that has no bearing on my ability to separate friendships from critical thinking. I insist on it and so does he.