LSSBB
Devilish Dictionarian
LSSBB replies:
"I think [Bilbo] needs to take (retake?) a course in Physics or talk directly to a physicist to have it explained to him."
I agree with this. My debate with Bilbo on his previous post was specifically about how, in order to avoid simple mistakes, a layperson ought to have expert guidance when attempting to adjudicate an expert dispute (and especially when the layperson wants to side with a tiny minority). Unfortunately he so far refuses to understand my position, instead interpreting it somehow as a direct defense of FEMA or something, which wouldn't make any sense. You can see how this went in the previous post.
ozeco41 replies:
"That is my opinion also. I considered and half drafted an explanation but decided against posting. I'm not into blogs or YT style 'debate'. Given that forums are dying in the arse I may need to change my attitude ---- or change this hobby."
I think a change of attitudes might be good, and your participation on Bilbo's blog would be helpful. One disadvantage of forums is that they are full of so much extraneous material. One thing that's good about a blog like Bilbo's is that he takes himself to be able to adjudicate a technical dispute with very, very few words, and fairly little ad hominem. So you can have a fairly efficient exchange that wouldn't take too much of your time. A while back on this forum Oystein noted that he had had a respectful debate with Bilbo. (Speaking of which, what happened to Oystein? And Sunstealer?)
Grizzly Bear replies:
"Usually all I ask is how "freefall" gives a specific, unambiguous reference to explosives and controlled demolition, then their poker face ensues"
This is one reason why Bilbo's post is somewhat more interesting, because he makes the more narrow argument that the official explanation merely fails to explain free fall, and that on the basis of this more study is needed. That being said, as far as I can tell Bilbo does think free fall is evidence of controlled demolition, on the basis of a superficial common sense style argument: (i) one way to achieve free fall is to remove all supports all at once; (ii) one way to remove all supports all at once is controlled demolition; (iii) so one way to achieve free fall is controlled demolition.
One argument offered here against the more narrow claim is that insofar as the NIST simulation model wasn't intended to explain all parts of the collapse, but merely the onset, the 2.25 seconds in question are not germane. This claim is somewhat hard to evaluate as a layperson. A model is always idealized in multiple respects, but that doesn't mean all anomalies in the explanandum would be acceptable. So it's important to know which sorts of anomalies are problematic and which are not. I don't know how to do this except by either (i) becoming a trained expert with lots of experience in this sort of thing; or (ii) extensive review and engagement with experts who have such experience. Of course Bilbo is implicitly unwilling to do this (I say "implicitly" because, as you can see from the previous post on his blog, he seems to refuse to respond to this aspect of my position).
Sunstealer has ratcheted back on the posting, not surprising since it's all dying embers.
Oystein is a different story. He disappeared after some discussion in a non-9/11 thread about some complications in his personal life. No one can find him, phone calls and personal emails don't get through for folks that knew him more closely. His disappearance had folks worried for a long time, and there has been no news. Chris Mohr can provide further details if you need them.