Nob:
A couple things:
It is fair as long as he also makes note that he has absolutely zero knowledge of the system and has spent zero time at the table trying it. People in Europe thought the world was flat until Christopher Columbus proved them wrong.
This is a flawed stance. First -- and this may sound stark raving mad coming from a person of science as I consider myself to be -- did people benefit from the knowledge that the world was round, once it was proved that it was?
No. What it did do, was to discover a new country in the process.
So it was the *exploration* that was the benefit; not learning the fact that the world is round. Centuries later, the fact that the world is round benefits worldwide commerce, trading of knowledge and cultures, etc.
In many ways, this whole question of "to be, or not to be" concerning aiming systems hinges upon the willingness of someone to explore.
If Lou or anyone else get's passed on the highway by 20 members of the Hell's Angels and he think to himself "What a bunch of low life douche bags those are", do you think he pulls over when he sees them stopped at a gas station and expresses that opinion to them?
Straw Man. (Or "Aunt Sally" as they say in the UK.)
First, what do the acceptance (or lack) of aiming systems have to do with a motorcycle club? Do you really want to equate yourself -- and all of your aiming system colleagues -- with a motorcycle club notorious for crime and violence? That *is* what you're doing here, and just perpetuates the "thug" mentality on these boards.
Second, nobody in their right mind would do what you mentioned. You can visually see that motorcycle rider and size him up. Compare that with Internet forums -- which are essentially an online newspaper/blog/interaction center, where everything is the text you see on the screen -- nothing more. There is no physical presence involved as is the case when you see that Hell's Angel rumble past you. So this is flawed from the get-go.
People using this "but would you say such things to a person's face" thing related to forums and other forms of Internet chat is flawed. For example, I'm quite sure some of the movie critics who write reviews online would not say the exact things they do in print, as they would if they meet those actors/directors face-to-face.
There's a huge difference between expressing your opinion and continuously dogging someone (or something, such as an aiming system). If Lou is so adamant about CTE/Pro One not working, he should be willing to post $10,000 of his own money in a match against Stevie Moore, Landon or Stan Shuffett. That point proves this match wasn't about aiming systems, it was about a personal grudge between Lou and John. Lou agreed because he knew he had the better of it in the gamble, not because he believed CTE/Pro One had no merit whatsoever.
Another Straw Man. You're foisting up
great players from the get-go, instead of meeting Lou on the table with someone that has equivalent experience / abilities that subsequently studied aiming systems. It's like saying you want Lou to bring a knife to a gun fight. Or, after two guys dueled it out with pistols, you want the guy that just won and still standing with his smoking pistol, to go ahead and challenge the guy standing nearby with a loaded
Minigun (Gatling gun).
Not a good way to bolster your argument.
What I don't get is all this "forced conversion" going on with the aiming system advocates. If someone wants to express his/her opinion that the systems don't work, and they just plain aren't interested in exploring them, that opinion should stand on its own. "Stand on its own" to mean the reader makes the determination of whether to heed that opinion or not.
You know what? You'd think that the naysayers would've done a lot of damage to the interest in aiming systems, right? Look around -- it did the exact opposite. I know when I see a Lou or Patrick Johnson or anyone else lambaste something with merely a "standing on its own" opinion (and no proof), I'm all the more interested in knowing what something is all about. And although I'm not dissatisfied with how I play, being the consummate cue sports student that I consider myself to be, I'm exploring what they're about for my own edification.
That's the exploration that I talked about above. The benefits from knowing that the earth is round will come later -- right now, let's find us some new countries in the process.
-Sean
