I often wonder how people come around to disbelieving things they’ve seen with their own eyes. In your hypothetical, you have seen the flight for yourself, but the Brothers are prestidigitators. I can see the validity in thinking “I’ve just seen something hitherto extraordinary, so let’s make sure that any other explanations for what I’ve seen (like wire-tricks) are less likely than postulate: that plane can really fly!” But I don’t think it’s constructive to just pattern match “These guys make a living tricking people with unbelievable bologna, so going so far as even SEEING something perpetrated by these hoaxters would make me look stupid. Therefore, I didn’t see that plane fly”
If you actually watch the plane fly, the calculations themselves become moot for many purposes, and Kelvin’s authority not even worth considering.
If the Wright brothers were professional magicians, then would you be less inclined to believe your eyes when you saw the plane fly? ;)
It would be interesting to see professional magicians try and replicate feats we already know are possible.
I often wonder how people come around to disbelieving things they’ve seen with their own eyes. In your hypothetical, you have seen the flight for yourself, but the Brothers are prestidigitators. I can see the validity in thinking “I’ve just seen something hitherto extraordinary, so let’s make sure that any other explanations for what I’ve seen (like wire-tricks) are less likely than postulate: that plane can really fly!” But I don’t think it’s constructive to just pattern match “These guys make a living tricking people with unbelievable bologna, so going so far as even SEEING something perpetrated by these hoaxters would make me look stupid. Therefore, I didn’t see that plane fly”