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Re: Franklin, My Dear, I am Shocked at Your Attitude
Subject:Re: Franklin, My Dear, I am Shocked at Your Attitude From:Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 4 Feb 1997 07:45:17 PST
Don Smith writes:
> I thank Benny for his invention of bifocals, but he wasn't to smart
> with electricity. (Most of us don't fly kites in electrical storm,
> with keys tied on the kite string to boot!)
This ties into the concept of obviousness and intuitiveness. During
the period of Franklin's experiments, the danger of the kit experiment
was impossible to estimate. Too few of the basic facts were known.
Thus, it's a misapplication of the concept of "obviousness" to assert
that Franklin was foolish the perform the Pennsylvania Experiment.
Only by performing it did scientists begin to acquire the data that
indicated that you shouldn't fly kites in thunderstorms.
-- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon, High-Tech Technical Writing, Inc.
36475 Norton Creek Road * Blodgett * Oregon * 97326
robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (541) 453-5841 * Fax: (541) 453-4139
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