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Freedom of Information Release on Nikola Tesla (2011)

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Re: Freedom of Information Release on Nikola Tesla (2011)

#91

Post by cr0sh »

baobrien wrote: post #77
readhn wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how do you know that "hallucinations/strange visions of light" are not real effects that he did observe? if one person is more receptive to certain things than the other .. it does not make him or her crazy... "The mathematics of string theory suggests that the world we know is not complete. In addition to our four familiar dimensions - three-dimensional space and time - string theory predicts the existence of six ex…

Ockham's razor, maybe? Mental illness is a thing we have observed; magic 10 dimensional eyeballs aren't.

But is it really that far-fetched?

I mean, I don't think Tesla was some kind of super-wizard or anything; extremely intelligent and precient on certain things, lacking in other areas (it's interesting to compare and contrast Tesla and Edison, for instance - but that's OT).

But how often have we heard of, or read about, people able to come up with solutions to, say, complex mathematical problems, seemingly in their head - where they claim to "see" the patterns or formulae or whatever - and it just "comes together" for them correctly?

A kind of "synesthesia" for mathematics, you might call it?

So would it be any less possible that someone could "see" higher-order dimensional visualization and understand them, without need intermediary constructs or simulations?

Also - at least according to his closest biographer (so some bias there, I grant) - Tesla could supposedly "see" how something was supposed to be constructed; it's dimensions, it's workings, it's weight, etc - exactly. It was described as if he could visualize it existing in front of him, before it actually existed, and see everything about it. He could then build it - without needing engineering drawings or such.

Not sure where the truth lies with that, but it was fascinating to read about, if true.

Re: Freedom of Information Release on Nikola Tesla (2011)

#92

Post by cr0sh »

jonstaab wrote: post #57

For anyone interested in a really good biography on Tesla, this [0] is the best one I've read. It's written by John J. O'Neill, a journalist who knew Tesla personally for 30 years or so IIRC. It sticks to the facts, eschewing the various myths about aliens and such that tend to stick to him, and it covers his whole life, from what is known of his childhood all the way through his death. It's a super interesting read.…

That's one of the biographies I've read about Tesla, and which I referenced in an earlier comment I made upthread. It should be noted that others have said it isn't without bias. It was an excellent read, though.

Re: Freedom of Information Release on Nikola Tesla (2011)

#94

Post by nikcub »

matteuan wrote: post #44
NicoJuicy wrote: post #40

Everytime i read something about Nikola Tesla, i go back reading: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/tesla

I like the oatmeal, but that comic is just a collection of urban myths about Tesla. http://edisontechcenter.org/tesladebunked.html

He accuses Tesla of stealing the three phase AC motor from Ferrari and being a business-minded promoter with absolutely no evidence and contrary to almost everything we know about Tesla

That article is much worse than anything The Oatmeal has ever written or done, and seems mostly fueled by spite

Re: Freedom of Information Release on Nikola Tesla (2011)

#95

Post by otakucode »

jstarfish wrote: post #72
nulagrithom wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A cartoonist (a guy with no engineering, legal or historian background) born in 1982 on the wrong side of the continent > cynical style typically demonstrated by the worst of US-born Millennials > Disclaimer: The works below are the opinion of the author and not the official viewpoint of the Edison Tech Center That's enough for me to forget this whole article. I'm not buying all the "facts" in The Oatmeal's comic e…

Why not? A wide and impressionable audience now understands this part of history as interpreted by an internet celebrity. The ability to publish misinformation on the internet far outscales the ability of anybody to refute it. At some point you have to filter out the noise by appraising the source. If that means dismissing inflammatory history lessons from young cartoonists in Seattle, or dismissing medical advice fr…

I would say the "why not" comes down not to why not dispute it but why dispute it in the way it was done, by insulting Inman for being from the west coast, for being young, for being unhappy, etc. Rather than insult him for perpetuating untruths, the author instead tosses out weird demographic and geographic insults.

It reminds me of the saying attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, "Smart people talk about ideas. Mediocre people talk about things or events. Stupid people talk about people." Speaking about specific people denigrates a conversation. A discussion will always be more interesting and enlightening and overall useful if instead aimed at ideas or even slightly abstracted.

Re: Freedom of Information Release on Nikola Tesla (2011)

#96

Post by datawarrior »

Sangermaine wrote: post #84
readhn wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

how do you know that "hallucinations/strange visions of light" are not real effects that he did observe? if one person is more receptive to certain things than the other .. it does not make him or her crazy... "The mathematics of string theory suggests that the world we know is not complete. In addition to our four familiar dimensions - three-dimensional space and time - string theory predicts the existence of six ex…

I'm not sure how to respond to this. You're asking if Tesla had the power to see extra-dimensional structures? I guess I'm fairly secure in assuming that Tesla was experiencing hallucinations, in ways that are common among people experiencing hallucinations (unexplained lights are fairly standard), rather than possessing extra-dimensional superpowers that would, as far as we know, be completely unique to him. Unless…

Not trying to back up his/her argument but the idea isn't entirely obsurd:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia

Re: Freedom of Information Release on Nikola Tesla (2011)

#97

Post by hacker11235 »

stephengillie wrote: post #89
hacker11235 wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could you expand more on the prospects of wireless transmission of electricity. I've seen some stuff about this but have had a hard time finding sources talking about it, I'm quite intrigued.

If you have a new iPhone or an older Android, you could utilize this technology to charge your phone.

Right, inductive charging. From what I've read it doesn't seem like this was the method Tesla was researching for long range transmission was it?

Re: Freedom of Information Release on Nikola Tesla (2011)

#98

Post by bthornbury »

canjobear wrote: post #88
readhn wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He made wild claims that were never quite backed up by proof, claims that even now no one seems to believe were actually possible ------- when Leonardo da vinci sketched out a parachute or a helicopter-looking self propelling device prototypes that took 500 years to actually build - what did contemporaries think of him? who are we to judge a great mind? we simply cant. yes he might have gone mad, but there is a very…

> who are we to judge a great mind? we simply cant. It's not like these "great minds" are alien superintelligences. How much smarter do you think they were than the average person, in terms of IQ? Maybe 2x maximum? Seems quite possible to judge. Tesla was not a Singularity.

IQ is an irrelevant metric. Look at his achievements pragmatically.

In terms of understanding of electric phenomena, its difficult to point at another with a similar level of understanding (or at least productive understanding).

With that in mind, it would seem he's quite a bit "smarter" than even very intelligent people, with the same life long pursuit.

Re: Freedom of Information Release on Nikola Tesla (2011)

#99

Post by cr0sh »

jay-anderson wrote: post #47
matteuan wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I like the oatmeal, but that comic is just a collection of urban myths about Tesla. http://edisontechcenter.org/tesladebunked.html

While all of that may be absolutely true, the title of the group of that source doesn't instill confidence as unbiased historians. It makes me wonder if they're promoting team edison. Can anyone recommend a better source?

About the only way you can gather some semblance of "historical truth" or "historical facts" about either Edison or Tesla would be to read as many biographies and books about both men, both contemporary accounts, auto-biographical accounts, and later historical treatises.

In short - read everything you can about both individuals - their life, their history, their accomplishments, and their rivalry thru the years.

At one time, I was more on the "fanboy" side of things with Tesla; for years, from about 1992 or so (long before the Oatmeal piece, and certainly before "The Prestige" was published), I collected many books and anything else I could get my hands on about Tesla. Prior to that, as a teenager, I had heard about him thru histories of Edison - mainly in connection to the "Tesla Coil" as well.

But I had neglected Edison. At some point, many years later I decided that having only a one-sided view of things wasn't right, and started collecting and reading things on and about Edison.

What I discovered was ultimately, neither man could be claimed to be "all that" and both were products of their times. Both had their greatnesses, and both had their lows. I consider both men to have made many contributions, but they also had plenty of faults. I also consider it one of those "historical tragedies" that the two men became bitter rivals, rather than working together. I believe that Edison could have gone so much further with Tesla's guidance and temperament as an engineer and scientist (Tesla being more of a theoretical scientist before an engineer, and Edison being more an experimentalist engineer before a scientist). I often wonder what would have happened if Edison and Tesla had explored the "Edison Effect" - the world would probably not be the same today, certainly.

Re: Freedom of Information Release on Nikola Tesla (2011)

#100

Post by readhn »

product50 wrote: post #85
Sangermaine wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure how to respond to this. You're asking if Tesla had the power to see extra-dimensional structures? I guess I'm fairly secure in assuming that Tesla was experiencing hallucinations, in ways that are common among people experiencing hallucinations (unexplained lights are fairly standard), rather than possessing extra-dimensional superpowers that would, as far as we know, be completely unique to him. Unless…

He is just obsessed over Tesla and is making wild claims. Has no way to back up with any data except saying that this is coming from Tesla - so, who knows, it may be true.

huh? not sure how you arrived to these conclusions. but good luck.
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