Thread: Physics or Phyction?

Two men and an egg. Experiment #1: Placed egg lengthwise in vise with pressure gauge, tightened vise, when gauge read 50 lbs...scrambled egg. Conclusion: Average egg will support 50 lbs. pressure.

Experiment #2: Take 144 eggs pointy end up in square array; place flat plate on top, add weight to plate; when eggs scramble, divide total weight by 144; yield: pounds pressure that average egg will support.

Q. & A. #1: Can we expect an average egg to support that same linear pressure along any other axis?
Of course not.

Q. & A. #2: Are either Experiment #1 or #2 examples of good science or even reasonable examples of applied science?
Of course not.

Q. & A. #3: Is one egg an acceptable random representative sample of all eggs, is 144 eggs?
Of course not.

Q. & A. #4: Are the conclusions valid? Can we say with confidence from these demonstrations that an average egg will support 50 lbs. pounds pressure?
Not on our wildest dreams.

Q. & A. #5: Are these examples of pseudoscience?
Definitely.

Q. #6: Should I expect an average high school graduate, maybe not in America, but in a country where they have real schools, to be able to critically evaluate these experiments and correctly answer these questions?

These experiments were demonstrated on TV shows advised and overseen by professors, with PHDs in physics, from major universities across the US.

Q. #7: Should PHDs who, for promise of money and fame, promote pseudoscience for the masses be running publicly supported physics programs like NASA or CERN or teaching in our universities?:

BUMP. Sometimes I think those kinda people are there because theyre buisnessmen first and scientists second. I'll always remember what my high school AV teacher said about PHDs. "That just means we have it Piled High and Deep."