People actually unironically developing an open source perpetual motion motor?

[Nominal Animal]

It is useful to note that even Isaac Newton dabbled in alchemy and occultism.

If you think that it was "okay to do so at his time", you're wrong: practicing alchemy was banned, and could lead to one being hanged for it.

[victorb]

The sheer determination they have is kinda impressive, even if it's misguided. I remember trying to make a perpetual motion machine as a kid too, lol.

[Buriedcode]

Although I generally get frustrated with people who really believe these things - take a fundamental misunderstanding and run with it, and come up with all sorts of complicated justifications for their false belief - its worth noting that of all the pseudoscience and snake oil stuff these days, this sort of thing is probably one of more inocuous ideas.

I used to be quite harsh about this sort of thing, but there are far more dangerous things than a group of people trying to understand the world by building funny machines.  Hopefully, of those who are more technically minded, will test their theories and update them and see they it starts to converge with standard models.  I don't see they're harming anyone.

There *can* be harm - trying to get funding or investments from gullible who don't have the cash to waste - but I haven't seen these communities do that.  Sure, there will be a start-up making silly claims and getting funding, but those are actual scam artists who are knowingly trying to defraud investors, rather than the "free energy" community with their coils and magnets.

There is crank magnetism though - a belief in something fridge tends to lead to more fridge beliefs over time if someone really goes down teh rabbit hole ("they" are lying to you, flat earth, vaccine nano bots, its all a simuation! etc..) but thats more that, those who are likely to go down this route will probably gravitate towards these communities first, before becoming a full-on space cadet.

[RJSV]

   Might seem not related, but with mention of European union mega-big projects, whether feasible or not, they do provide a sort-of welfare or job access, with the humongous sizes and heights.   That, then brings to mind another mega-big transit station project, here in San Francisco.
   Includes 'wellness' factor, by the way, in the huge construction.   A cavernous central chamber, occupied some 3 city blocks, as a transit 'hub'.

   Meanwhile, those 'transit systems' include high-speed rail, to Los Angeles and several modes of translo.   Heck....I bet they even were forced to TAKE OUT, eliminate some of the SF iconic cable car lines....meanwhile the high speed stuff, (and BART electrics) slowly going bankrupt.

   But there is wellness factors, built in, to the transit hub.   It's been plagued with cost ovveruns and mechanical failures, such as cracks in high stress beams.

[Xena E]

By unironically i mean they seem quite adamant about it but we all know the ugly truth that comes from our wonderful laws of physics.
And by people i mean an entire forum, look here:
https://www.mooker.com/showthread.php?tid=95

And whilst you are all reading that old bollocks, and laughing at how stupid these people are, the cookies are harvesting your personal details.

 

[SiliconWizard]

By unironically i mean they seem quite adamant about it but we all know the ugly truth that comes from our wonderful laws of physics.
And by people i mean an entire forum, look here:
https://www.mooker.com/showthread.php?tid=95

And whilst you are all reading that old bollocks, and laughing at how stupid these people are, the cookies are harvesting your personal details.

 

After which, you'll be well-advised to ponder who's the fool in the end.