9/11 conspiracy theorists

I just knew BYU wasn’t going to be happy about one of its faculty taking after the US Government.

Steven Jones is a physics professor at the Y, and he’s been active in promoting the idea that 9/11 was sabotage. In this view, the Bush Administration (at the very best) knew of the attacks beforehand, but did nothing to stop them because it fit into their take-over-the-Middle-East agenda. Or, at the very worst, explosives were planted by Dick Cheney and Osama bin Laden personally.

Accordingly, BYU has put the Perfesser (who also does work in ‘cold fusion’; ’nuff said) on ‘paid leave‘ while they decide what to do wth him.

Brigham Young University placed physics professor Steven Jones on paid leave Thursday while it reviews his involvement in the so-called “9/11 truth movement” that accuses unnamed government agencies of orchestrating the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center.

BYU will conduct an official review of Jones’ actions before determining a course of action, university spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said. Such a review is rare for a professor with “continuing status” at BYU, where Jones has taught since 1985.

My thoughts are kind of tangled about this, but I’ll put them down in no particular order.

Number 1. Is the circle-jerk of neo-cons that Bush listens to evil enough to try this kind of thing? Without question. Do I think they had any intention of doing this? No. Remember, this is the gang that lost the war in Iraq, lost the War on Terror, and got absolutely everything wrong. How would they have the capability to arrange airlines, explosives, and controlled demolitions with such split-second precision?

Number 2. Religious people (say, the kind that teach at BYU) aren’t the best critical thinkers. Oh, they may know about it, but they consistently fail to apply it to the tender parts of the mind, the parts that hold cherished beliefs. Utah has a lot of followers, but there are a lot of conspiracy theorists among the rest of them. It could be a manifestation of the ‘persecuted believer’ syndrome, which Latter-day Saints hone every Sunday.

Number 3. BYU hates to be the focus of national attention, and Dr Jones has unwisely forced this situation by going public. The University tends to act badly in these situations — just look at Cecilia Konchar Farr, fired for her feminism 10 years ago. Oh, hell, look at the whole page. This is a university that holds a deep suspicion of its faculty and what they might do to its image. Back to the Deseret News story:

BYU does not grant tenure, generally regarded as a permanent position, to professors. However, it does give continuing status to professors found worthy after six years on campus.

‘Worthy’ is the newspaper’s word, but it’s well-chosen for its religious connotations.

“Continuing status,” Jenkins said, “grants the expectation that faculty members will have continuing employment at the university, although it is not a guarantee. They still need to meet satisfactory performance levels for scholarship, citizenship and teaching.”

That ‘citizenship’ is the kicker. You’re a bad citizen if you don’t play ball. Jones didn’t play ball.

Number 4. What’s wrong with Jones’ assertions? The fact that the ‘demolition theory’ amounts to a ‘conspiracy theory’ is a really bad sign. The other bad sign is that they fall back on paucity of imagination. Here’s how that one looks: ‘There was no way that could have happened without my theory being true.’
Religious believers say ‘There was no way I could have passed that test on my own; it must have been God.’
Creationists say ‘There was no way things could have evolved by pure chance like they have; my theory must be true.’
And Dr Jones and co. say ‘There was no way the towers could have fallen like that; our theory must be right.’
Well, it’s an amazing world, and if you can’t think of a way, you might not be trying hard enough. Paucity of imagination is a classic blunder.

On the other hand, I’m happy to have him present his ideas to the scientific community for airing. That’s the way it works. Someone presents a view, others present a rebuttal. Which the NIST has done. Since I lack the necessary knowledge of physics and metallurgy, I’ll read what I can and wait for a consensus to form among the scientific community. It’s not perfect, but in the long-term, it’s a good way to go.

I think it’ll come down on the side of the NIST, though, and I can tell that because, well, I gained psychic powers from the experiments the CIA performed on me. But I’ve said too much.