Dear Dr. Root-Bernstein,
I am one of thousands of Chinese-spoken people who got to know you only through one of Dr. Fang’s articles. I appreciate your theory on the definition of science and believe you are a prominent scientist or philosopher.
I understand Dr Fang made a mistake when introducing your theory in the first release of his article. I also believe Dr Fang corrected it and apologized for it.
However, I feel your opinions expressed in your recent public letters are not proportional to the mistake Dr Fang made. If someone steps on you toes in a busy street, he is at fault. If after his apology, you insist that you can not forgive the misstep and you would keep going after him, you are turning yourself from a victim to a laugh box. I guess you know what I mean.
Really you are at risk to lose the respect from many people you earn through Dr. Fang’s work (beside his mistake), and indeed you have lost mine. You have you right of view, no doubt about that. But I truly believe your opinions have been used by various political enemies of Dr Fang for their special interest and against the general good of Chinese society. In my view, you are lack of common sense and good judgement, despite the fact that you have great knowledge of science.
By the way, I am not, as someone may stereotype, a fan of Dr. Fang’s. The proof is I disagreed with Dr. Fang in several issues and I may disagree with him again in the future.
Sincerely,
xxxxxx