Howard Popeck:
First, some evolutionary history. Someone (their name escapes me) concluded that it was logical, sensible and intelligent to consider if there were life forms smaller than could be seen by the human eye. This being despite the fact that this enlightened person lacked the precision instruments necessary to get the answer. My point being that to some extent this is metaphor for one of the many irritants infecting our audiophile world.
Back then whenever it was, the collective response from his/her peer group to the question was probably a deafening “No”. “If we can’t see it then we can’t measure it and if we can’t measure it then it doesn’t exist – John.” And so on.
Consider then that brave first person to question that dogma. He/she probably asked something along the lines of; ‘Err yes, I hear what you say, but how can we prove that nothing smaller than what we can see with the naked eye can be alive?’
Sometime about the year 1590, two Dutch spectacle makers, Zaccharias Janssen and his father Hans started experimenting with lenses. One point of view is that they were the inventors of the optical (as distinct from electron) microscope. As an aside though, during the 1st century AD (year 100), glass had been invented and the Romans were looking through the glass and testing it. They experimented with different shapes of clear glass and one of their samples was thick in the middle and thin on the edges. They discovered that if you held one of these “lenses” over an object, the object would look larger Anyway, the point to all this is …
our view of the world changed overnight. Those who wanted to could finally see and, like the donuts that inhabit both sides of the audiophile industry who chose not to see, just didn’t see.
To me this means that when clusters of high-end enthusiasts hear that which the scientific/measurement community has determined is incorrect should they simply accept the “facts” or like me (and I'm far from alone re this) question their understanding of the measurements?
There exists a tidal wave of examples of those that are so trapped in their physical space that they cannot accept what the rest of us feel or find emotionally correct.
Obviously I feel vindicated when measurements corroborate my intuitive truths about my perceptions; and why not? However … I'm never (as far as I'm aware) deflected from my attachment and belief systems validated by my senses and intuitions merely because the physical world doesn’t yet support them.
We may not always be able to explain subjective characteristics – but that doesn’t make them any less real!
Epilogue: when the facts change then be prepared to changed your cherished opinions. Moreover opinions are not facts in disguise; they’re merely remain as nothing more than opinions until validated.
Howard Popeck
