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September 01, 2005
What To Do If You Discover Something
Alun has an interesting discussion on what to do as an amateur if you discover something and the professionals will not listen to you. His suggestions boil down to toning down the claims and patience.
Suppose I found Atlantis where no-one else had looked. I wouldn’t announce it was Atlantis, even if I knew it was. I’d start off by announcing I’d found a new archaeological site.
Between toning down the claims and patience, he has a good deal of very practical advice. Once in a while, I think I have discovered something. I am working on such a "discovery" now. I want to be as sure as I can that my "discovery" is really something new (I have no pretense that it is important) so I am working my way through all the relevant literature, ancient and modern, to be certain that I can explain my "discovery" to someone who has spent his entire life time working in the field from which I took a thirty five year vacation. When and if I am ready to present my "discovery" I plan to present it here on Abnormal Interests as a very tentative suggestion and email a select few professional scholars asking them to look at it. If one does, I will be happy. If it turns out that I didn't discover anything then that will be OK too. By the way, on the few occasions in the past when I have used this approach, I have never failed to get a response. I tend to frame the contents of my email as a question often referencing their own work. I try to make the email message short and direct them to what I have written online.
If you think you are about to make a discovery, you may want to read and bookmark Alun's suggestions.
Posted by DuaneSmith at September 1, 2005 03:00 PM | Read more on Odds and Ends |
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