Amateur "mathematician"
Mark Provo is back
again, this time with a new "paper" titled "The True Origin and Nature of Elliptic Curves and Modular Forms." It is more of the usual gibberish, including such stunning insights as "+1" does not equal 1 and that "Mathematics never exists unless an observer is present." This is the very first sentence of his paper, and it quickly gets worse from there. Somehow the whole number 1 is equal to the observer of mathematics. Maybe that's god, or maybe
Bertrand Russell. His conclusion?
"All of this shows that elliptic curves and modular forms can fully reside in the structure of the Linear and Modular Form, for active observation by the observer."
Sure. Provo exhibits all the signs of a mathematical
"crank," the term scientists use for amateurs who utilize simplistic statements to claim proof of the most earth-shaking results. (Needless to say, no crank has ever proved anything of even the slightest importance.)
According to Wikipedia, the universal characteristics of cranks include:
- Cranks vastly overestimate their own knowledge and ability, and vastly underestimate that of acknowledged experts.
- Cranks insist that their alleged discoveries are urgently important.
- Cranks rarely if ever acknowledge any error, no matter how trivial.
- Cranks love to talk about their own beliefs, often in inappropriate social situations, but they tend to be very, very bad listeners, and often appear to be utterly disinterested in anyone else's experience or opinions.
Provo exhibits these qualities in spades. It shouldn't annoy me so much, I know, except that he's asking people for money based on his results, and that's taking advantage of people. (Though no one seems to have given him any money in the last six days. Provo now claims that he will be in dire financial straits in about a week. Perhaps he can go on the lecture circuit.) A lot of people are coming here lately based on Google searches for "Mark Provo," and I'd just like to inform them that the guy's a quack and they should keep their money or donate it to something important, like AIDS research or therapeutic recovery homes for injured squirrels.
UPDATE: Indeed, there's an entire
Web site devoted to cranks of all types.
3 comments:
June 17, 2006
I have just seen this new blog comment and can only refute everything about it, as usual. This person is crazy and does not characterize anything as it actually is. To prove that fact immediately note his comment that my work involves "such stunning insights as '+1' does not equal 1. That is ridiculous and is not anywhere in my work. I show that for the system of Observer Mathematics, whole number one, 1, and positive one, +1, are distinct numbers that are equal in numerical value. This is explained clearly in the Observer Mathematics paper (which this person has never read and refuses to read because it would make this obsessive fixation on "debunking me" impossible; where do weird people come up with mentalities like this?). He then quotes the statement about elliptic curves and modular forms out of context, to distort the impression for you, the reader. All of this stuff about cranks is true, but I do not display any of the qualities he lists at all. He simply wants to make up that this is true. This stuff about me being a "bad listener" is so opposite to the truth (ask anyone who knows me)it boggles the mind. How did he come to this "conclusion?" He has never spoken with me! He calls me a "quack," but this is actually his own psychological state being transferred onto me (the result of age, or mental illness, or whatever). There is a simple cure for anyone who reads these posts about me by him. READ THE PAPERS YOURSELF, especially the Observer Mathematics paper.
Thank you,
Mark Provo
are you still channeling JFK and SETH???
This response was originally intended for the thread on Mark Provo on the urbanhonking.com blogsite. But seeing as how that thread can no longer be posted to, I am posting it on this blog site in response to the two threads that relate to Mark Provo.
I am a former student of Mark's at Overlake High School of which he claims so often and everywhere that he was the Chairman of.
The honest truth of the matter was that at our tiny high school we had TWO math teachers, and Mark Provo WASN'T EVEN THE GOOD ONE. You can ask ANYONE that was a former student of his.
He also wrote a book, as a previous poster on the other thread mentioned, called "The Collapse of my Christian Beliefs" where he spends almost the entire book attempting to debunk Christianity with such poorly constructed logic that no self respecting publisher would even consider it for publication which is why he ended paying out of pocket to publish it himself. Then he went from bookstore to bookstore begging for them to carry it, but was literally laughed off the premises by any poor bookstore owner that actually read his tripe. The book's most hilarious part was how he ended with a sentence something along the lines of, "This is why my belief in Christianity collapsed, which is why I now believe in Seth". It's like huh!??! Mark Provo was referring to the Seth Material, a series of books written by author Jane Roberts who was a famous medium in the sixties and seventies that channeled a personality named Seth. The Seth Materials are the channeled words verbatim of this "personality" that saw itself as an educator of humans about the metaphysical nature of 'reality', and can be found in any New Age section of any bookstore. You MAY be able to find still find Mark Provo's joke of a relic "The Collapse of my Christian Beliefs" in used bookstores in the Seattle area.
Mark then took it upon himself to begin channeling entities himself, including JFK and the Seth Material author Jane Roberts. It was at this time that Mark claimed that he was in fact the second coming of Christ, and those of us that were sane realized he had gone off the deep end. Those that didn't have it all together upstairs became followers of his into his New Age cult, of which he was the professed Messiah. The best part of this is that during this time, as he expected to be the real life incarnation of the world's Messiah, he had neglected to pay his taxes for five years (even as an Overlake math teacher) and was subsequently audited by the IRS.
It was Mark's previous rebuttal on the other Appell blog on Provo that had me literally rolling on the floor laughing so hard and I quote from Mark's mad reply:
"and they began making outrageous posts calling me all kinds of names and so forth, all by people who do not even know me or anything about my work (they are crazy drug users!)."
I wasn't even going to bother to post, but after reading this paragraph enough was enough.
The pot is clearly calling the kettle black, as anyone that knew Mark remembers how was right in the thick of it he was as a heavy and unapologetic drug user at the time, using LSD and marijuana like there was no tomorrow in order to induce visions in his followers to believe he was a living, walking, God. Perhaps the extent of this drug use contributed to him blowing a fuse but I'm not sure exactly what he was smoking before constantly repeated the line 'you don't know anything about me, so stop posting about me and leave me alone'. Well for anyone that DID know him like I did, I wonder if it ever occurred to him that what those people would say about him would be FAR FAR worse than anything he's encountered thus far. Sorry Mark, but your begging the question by pointing out that your critics do not even know you and calling them crazy drug users forced me to respond in good conscience so as to set the record straight. That's the good thing about the Internet, which is why you so despise it, because it provides TRANSPARENCY. You brought this upon yourself by making such a huge fuss in another forum threatening to sue its operator for defamation and libel because one poster happened to only mention your name. You created your own reality Mark Provo. Deal with it!
I'd love to see you attempt to sue ANYONE for libel or defamation, as you have in the past in your rantings against anyone who would dare post any association of you in the same breath as illegal drug use. But alas, you wouldn't even be able to afford a lawyer.
I also find it comical that for someone that yearns so much for fame, comparing himself and the rejection of his ideas in the same breath as Einstein, can be so clueless as to precisely why his ideas do not resonate with the rest of society. He lusts for the hero worship of being recognized as some brilliant mathematician that revolutionizes the field, yet can't handle the criticism that accompanies the slightest bit of fame. Hey Mark, remember that Einstein DID have his PhD in physics. You, in your infinite arrogance, have never bothered to pursue graduate school, even though it would seem from your recommendations and your undergraduate degree you could be accepted somewhere. Then you could write your thesis on this grand revelation of yours. What could you possibly be afraid of other than to learn in graduate school information that entirely refutes your ideas and makes them look silly in retrospect? By pursuing higher education, you could also finally have your first real job since being the worst math teacher at that Overlake high school ever hired and EARN a living rather than relying on the gullibility of others that you call 'benefactors' that do not have the background, and are therefore not in position to make a sound judgment on your paper. Some people would call you a snake oil salesman or a conman, but that would be giving you too much credit since I actually think you believe in this theory you came up with, which you previously named 'mathestry'. It would be most accurate to label you a B-U-M since you fit the description to precision. You beg for handouts to survive.
One more thing Mark, STOP BLAMING THE OREGONIAN!!! If your ideas had any real merit then even you could have used that PR gift to have made yourself credible. Because they aren't credible, you choose to blame the Oregonian. Guess what Mark? The reason people think you're an eccentric spook, nut case is FROM THE WAY YOU ACT! Your refutations of the Oregonian articles were ridiculously trivial and had nothing to do with the substance of the story on you. The Oregonian's biggest failing was that by not properly vetting your shady past that they gave the green light to do the story at all.
Your belief that Islamo fascists find you so important to be conspiring against you in order to use your ideas as a portal to destroy the rest of civilization and how this in intricately tied into your invented field of 'Observer Mathematics', which you previously called 'Mathestry' reveals to the rest of us that you are clearly mentally ill. Problem is, your name is not Dick Cheney and you don't hold the position of VP so you will never be credible IN SPITE of your beliefs. We hope for your sake that you will see a shrink. With such a profound deterioration of your mental condition, as a former student of yours I feel you need one BADLY, to protect you from yourself AND others. I literally fear for those in proximity of you, since I could see in a heartbeat YOU turning into the Islamo fascist alter ego, and acting out to taking revenge on the West like you prophesied in an act of revenge for not taking you seriously, and pulling a Timothy McVeigh. It would be in everyone's best interests if you are committed and put on meds until deemed safe to re-enter society.
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