Dissertations without deception (part 2)

For the publication of the article by L.S. Klein “Dissertations without deception” (TrV-Nauka, No. 16 (60), 08/10/2010) the following response from M. Eliferova appeared:

I respect L.S. very much, and I agree with everything that he said, but, in my opinion, his opponent is a person who does not exist in nature. Either L.S. passes off an imaginary interlocutor as a real one, and a literary feuilleton as a documentary correspondence, or he himself fell victim to a parody, which he mistook for a real letter. The letters of this anonymous gentleman are directly the protocols of the Elders of Zion. Here, they say, what a bastard I am. I do not deny that such people exist. Alas, they do exist. But I can't imagine them posing so flirtatiously. The hacks, on the contrary, will puff out their cheeks and pretend to be devotees of science.

Professor Klein responds to this:

Dear colleague, thank you for your support. I would not dare to pass off a literary feuilleton as documentary correspondence. Alas, my opponent is a real character, I have known him for a long time, I saw him with my own eyes (he came to St. Petersburg). He is indeed a professor and head of a department at a large scientific center. Why does he flaunt his art so much? In my opinion, precisely because he understands perfectly well that they do not make him look good, and he craves recognition and sympathy. He can pretend to be a devotee of science in front of an inexperienced public, but not in front of his colleagues. He needs applause. It is not possible to receive them for scientific discoveries, but at least for originality, for frankness, for courage - for impudence. And I want to tease the neat guy (which he considers me to be).

On the other hand, there is little courage here. He understands that I cannot hand him over to the authorities. Firstly, because I speak here as a publicist and journalist who should not give away his sources of information if he wants to continue to be trusted. Secondly, because he will immediately get out of it, saying that he was joking, that it was a self-incrimination - and I will be a fool. Go prove that this is not slander. But both you and I understand that in reality this is all true. The workshop is working. The number of dissertations purchased in our countries (Russia and neighboring countries) is comparable to those honestly done.

Then why did I go through this correspondence? That is why. To understand the psychology of those involved, figure out how to deal with it, and share it with everyone.

After publication, he continued to bombard me with letters. The newspaper publishes the continuation and, I hope, completion of this correspondence on its website www.trv-science.ru

Continuation:
Fraud with dissertations and the meaning of life