RN's revival?

**Mat** · May-07-2009, 22:30

Apparently, Robert Newman is doing quite fine with his controversial views.

http://odeo.com/episodes/24462468-Ro...he-Mozart-Myth

**greatcyber** · May-08-2009, 00:27

Such a shame that I'm not in Europe to have access to this wonderful egnigma that is RN. May he live long and prosper. I'm glad he's happy but gladder he's away from here with his happiness.

**dll927** · May-08-2009, 16:35

Is he back again? I was wondering the other day why I hadn't seen anything from him lately. He's probably been researching for another composer to downgrade. Funny that he seems to come across information that nobody else (or at least suspiciously few) others give credence to. God help us if he starts on J. S. Bach.

One problem with such people is that there just aren't the documentations of the time to depend on. So if someone comes along with ideas that fly in the face of everything else, they can grind their axes without too much worry about being proven wrong. We don't know how Mozart played things, because there aren't any recordings around. So let Newman, et. al., grind away, and the rest of us can laugh at them.

**Krummhorn** · May-08-2009, 17:27

I listened to part of that podcast interview ... he was (just like here and everywhere else) side stepping questions - direct questions about his sources. The "book" he mentions has been "in the works" since 2005 and was going to "be published in the summer" of each year since.

To put all minds at ease, Robert Newman is NOT back on this forum ... he was permanently banned from MIMF on February 20, 2009. Only his postings remain.

**Mat** · May-08-2009, 17:36

Originally Posted by dll927

God help us if he starts on J. S. Bach.

Bach is one of his favorite composers, from what I've observed, so I don't think he is going to paint his back... in the near future.

**jhnbrbr** · May-11-2009, 00:14

I listened to about 30 minutes of this interview, and Robert is very articulate and convincing as ever. For all I know there might be some truth in his Mozart theories, but after experiencing first-hand his methods of justifying his views on evolution, I would never have any confidence in his opinions on anything, unless someone else was willing to back him up. My best guess would be that there is a grain of truth in what he says but he is exaggerating it out of all proportion. For all that I can't help missing him a bit!

**Pista Gyerek** · May-18-2009, 01:29

I've been fascinated with the thought processes behind conspiracy theories for a long time. The Internet has made it much easier for these weird memes to survive and spread, and also for their propagators to portray themselves as engaging in impartial inquiry instead of irresponsible speculation.

Robert's Mozart conspiracy shares many traits with better-known conspiracy theories, such as creationism, Holocaust denial, and the 9/11 inside-job conspiracy. It's constructed out of the "anomalies" in the official theory, instead of deriving from independent lines of research. It depends on speculation about the usual shadowy cabals (the Freemasons, for instance) which can never, by definition, be verified. It handwaves away the work of the vast majority of musicologists and historians, and concentrates on one or two whose work is assumed to be reliable only because it seems to support what the conspiracy theorist already believes. And it dismisses all opposition to the theory as blind acceptance of the "paradigm." In truth, we accept the conventional scenario because it's supported by a mountain of data from independent lines of inquiry.

I noticed with amusement that certain MIMF members (particularly the Oceania contingent) were quite receptive to Robert's bizarre lucubrations. It just goes to show how unfamiliar people are with the tactics of conspiracy theorists, and how they pander to the cognitive biases of even intelligent people.

**Corno Dolce** · May-18-2009, 02:31

Aloha Pista Gyerek,

Why, thank you for your concern - I'm chuffed to bits by your care and consideration about my seeming ignorance in the matter you spoke about

I don't know what to say, gobsmacked that I am

<:-/

CD

**Pista Gyerek** · May-18-2009, 17:53

Lighten up, amigo.

After all, as it says in the Good Book:

"Blessed are the gobsmacked, for they shall be called the red-headed step-children of God."

Skeptically yours,

Pista Gyerek

**Corno Dolce** · May-18-2009, 18:41

Well,

If you say so, Amigo...

CD <:-?

**Pista Gyerek** · May-18-2009, 19:17

Well gee, Corno, it sure sounds like you need cheering up.

Look on the bright side. Even though your "brilliant colleague" Robert Newman is banned from this board, he's generating mirth here even in his unfortunate absence.

Have a lollipop or something.

Hugs,

Pistike

**Corno Dolce** · May-19-2009, 05:02

Aloha Pistike,

Thank you for guessing that I need cheering up - problem is IS that I don't need cheering up. I am so content and happy that my wife and I are expecting four little ones in September. I certainly am looking forward to caring for my new charges. Just as I consider everyone else on MIMF as a colleague, so was Robert Newman. Lamentably, he got banned, but that was his own doing. I see you still have to make hay about my association with Robert Newman - I pity you, really I do.

: - |

**Pista Gyerek** · May-19-2009, 10:54

Hearty congratulations are in order! Best wishes to you and the missus.

Regards,

Pista Gyerek

**Corno Dolce** · May-19-2009, 11:38

Aloha Pista Gyerek,

Thank you for your magnanimous well-wishes. I do really appreciate the thought behind it.

Cordially,

CD

**JLS** · Jun-11-2009, 10:13

Our inverted-commas-friend Robert is nothing more than a functional paranoid delusional. The man is clearly out of his mind. His condition is unfortunate but his banning certainly wasn't.

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